York River in Maine could be designated “Wild and Scenic”

KITTERY, Maine – Maine’s U.S. senators are submitting a proposal to add the York River to the National Park Service’s Wild and Scenic River System.

The 13-mile-long southern Maine river is located in Kittery, Eliot, South Berwick and York. Republican Sen. Susan Collins and independent Sen. Angus King said generations in southern Maine “have built their communities around the York River’s important ecological benefits and the economic opportunities it creates.”

Designation as a Wild and Scenic River would make the York River eligible for more federal funding and resources to help maintain its free-flowing state, the senators said.

A National Park Service study determined the river is suitable for designation as a Wild and Scenic River, said King, who proposed the study.