The Great Works Dam between Old Town and Bradley is being removed as part of a thirteen year construction project aimed to open up nearly 1,000 miles of habitat to eleven species of fish on the Penobscot River. The rationale is that granting access to these forms of wildlife for the first time in two hundred years will open the river to outdoor recreational opportunities, economic growth, more jobs, and energy production. U.S. Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar said $2.5 million of federal funds will go to the project, with an additional one million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It is being called the largest river restoration project in the eastern United States.