Steve Brooke Contributed photo

The Bailey Library in Winthrop will virtually host environmentalist Steve Brooke of Upstream, a Gardiner nonprofit working to return river herring to the Cobbossee watershed, at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17.

The event is the final part of a yearlong series celebrating Maine’s bicentennial that explores outdoor recreation in Maine, according to a news release from the library.

Those who attend can take part in an interactive slideshow presentation, and learn the history of the Cobbossee waterway and what is happening today to secure fish passage for its watershed. Dammed at its head of tide in 1761, Cobbossee Stream is one of the largest coastal watersheds in Maine that is still impassible to native migratory fish. A tributary of the Kennebec River and upper Merrymeeting Bay, the Cobbossee watershed includes the communities of Gardiner, West Gardiner, Litchfield, Richmond, Winthrop, Manchester, Monmouth, Readfield and Hallowell. It contains 20 square miles of lakes and ponds, according to the release.

Brooke served as project coordinator of the Kennebec Coalition during the decommissioning and removal of the Edwards Dam in Augusta on Maine’s Kennebec River. After retiring from the Maine State Planning Office, he began work with Upstream, an organization that works to save Cobbossee Stream’s environment and the fish that live and travel there.

The public is invited to attend via Zoom by visiting baileylibrary.org/athome and navigating to the Virtual Events tab. For help attending, email director Richard Fortin at rfortin@baileylibrary.org.