New bench dedicated to the man who stood up for the Bagaduce

Bailey Bowden just wanted to catch a fish. He became the Bagaduce River watershed’s biggest advocate.

Bailey Bowden, left, was honored for his work protecting the Bagaduce River watershed. He is seen here with Mike Thalhauser and Ciona Ulbrich of Maine Coast Heritage Trust. Photo by Stephen Rappaport.

July 29, 2026

By Stephen Rappaport

PENOBSCOT—A new bench at the head of Northern Bay honors a Penobscot man who has fought tirelessly for the restoration and preservation of the Bagaduce River watershed and the fisheries it supports.

Some 40 local residents, officials and conservationists gathered on July 23 to unveil a granite bench dedicated to Bailey Bowden, chair of the town’s Alewife Committee and a ninth-generation Penobscot resident. Bowden led a two-decade volunteer effort to study the town’s alewife runs, painstakingly counting the small, anadromous fish and helping them bypass obstructions as they returned via small streams from Northern Bay in the Bagaduce River to both Wight Pond’s and Pierce’s Pond. 

Those efforts led the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to approve, in 2024, a commercial alewife fishery for Wight’s Pond for the first time in 50 years. Bowden, a lifelong harvester, had a contract to operate a pilot fishery at Wight’s Pond for five years before that, during which he collected data on the alewife population for the state Department of Marine Resources. Before that approval, Penobscot last had a commercial alewife fishery in the 1970s.

Together with conservation groups, Bowden also led the push to develop an educational site at the rebuilt alewife fishway at Pierce’s Pond. The site incorporates a walking path, viewing areas and interpretive signage. Local elementary schools regularly bring students to the site where they can get close to the fish and meet people like Bowden who are committed to protecting the Maine’s natural resources.

The plaque on the bench honoring Bowden says he “has quietly (and sometimes loudly) carried the baton of active stewardship, dedication and love of a place.” Photo by Stephen Rappaport.

Beyond working for the restoration of Penobscot’s alewife resources, Bowden has been a fierce advocate for the welfare of the shellfish population and the ecology of Northern Bay.

To honor his efforts, the Town of Penobscot worked with Mainbe Coast Heritage Trust to create the bench, built by Penobscot resident and stone mason Toby Wardwell, using granite recovered during recent reconstruction of the culvert beneath Bayview Road that allows the Mill Stream to flow from Pierce’s Pond to Northern Bay. That project bolstered studies by scientists from Maine Maritime Academy’s Coastal & Marine Environmental Science program studying the marsh bordering the stream and lying between the coastal road and Northern Bay.

The bench honoring Bowden’s efforts was placed on a small bluff along Bayview Road with a sweeping view across Northern Bay.

“What better way to thank someone who spent his whole life standing up for things than to give him a place to sit down,” said Mike Thalhauser, a project manager at Maine Coast Heritage Trust who led the dedication, speaking to a gathering of 40 town officials, residents, conservationists and scientists.

Thalhuaser continued: “You’ve stood up for things that are important, and I’ve learned a lot just watching you do it. I’ve seen you stand up for fish, animals, the land, the people, science, big ideas, and small ideas…I just can’t thank you enough for it.”

Harold Hatch, chair of the Penobscot Select Board, told the crowd that he’d known Bowden since grade school. Twenty years ago, Hatch said, Bowden came to the select board and told the members there was “work to be done” to protect the town’s fisheries and natural resources. The board told Bowden to write a letter to whoever in the state should be contacted “and we’ll sign it.”

“In the last 20 years, Bailey has written numerous letters to numerous places that the select board has agreed to sign and sent them off. I can’t remember one of them coming back saying no, you’re not going to get it,” Hatch said.

Bowden and the bench dedicated to him. Photo by John Boit.

Hatch continued, “I’m just going to say thank you Bailey for being a lifelong friend and for everything that you’ve done for the town of Penobscot.”

Bowden said his reasons for advocating so strongly for restoration efforts were simple.

“I wanted to catch a fish and having the state say there were no fish, when you were looking at thousands of fish, anyone who knows me can imagine the language that came out of me at that point,” Bowden said. “That’s what set me on this journey…I believe that as citizens of Maine we all have the right to harvest and eat, sustainably and responsibly, any of our natural resources that are available.”

Among others praising Bowden’s contributions to anadromous fish and habitat conservation around Maine were Ciona Ulbrich, of Maine Coast Heritage Trust, who spoke of his work that ultimately led to the conservation of land along the Winslow Stream, which flows out of Wight’s Pond, and Dwayne Shaw, Executive Director of the Downeast Salmon Federation.

Bowden had a gracious response to the praise directed at him and his efforts.

“Thanks everyone for coming out on this beautiful day,” he said. “It’s really quite an honor to be recognized by a great organization like Maine Coast Heritage Trust.” He thanked Ulbrich for being a “filter and a buffer between me and regulators” and added, “she knew when to kick me under the table as well.”

Bowden told the crowd that he had spent countless hours at the very spot overlooking the bay as a child. He said he hopes people will come to the bench “to reflect upon what a beautiful place this is and what we can do to preserve and protect it.”