FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
20 October 2005
                                                                         CONTACT: Vivian Newman, 207-594-7534

DAVID MOSES BRIDGES TO SPEAK ABOUT "PASSAMAQUODDY BAY -- WILL IT BE MAINE"S ENVIRONMENTAL AND CULTURAL SACRIFICE AREA?"

David Moses Bridges, a Passamaquoddy tribal member from Pleasant Point, will discuss the environmental and cultural controversies sparked by proposals for LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminals on Passamaquoddy Bay at a public meeting sponsored by the Maine Chapter, Sierra Club, at the Camden Public Library at 6:30 PM November 15, 2005.  Mr. Bridges will explain why the industrialization of this unique part of Maine's coast has local, regional, and international ramifications.

Passamaquoddy Bay, teeming with fish and birds, is guarded by swift currents and whirlpools. The St. Croix River flows into Passamaquoddy Bay from the north, marking the border between the United States and Canada. It passes St. Croix Island, where Samuel de Champlain established the first European settlement north of St. Augustine, Florida, in 1604. The river empties into the bay between the Maine town of Robbinston and the Canadian resort of St. Andrews, founded by Loyalists some of whom barged their houses from Castine when they fled from the United States in the aftermath of the American Revolution. 

The Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy Reservation, known as Sipayik and including several sacred sites, straddles Passamaquoddy Bay and Cobscook Bays at the heart of the ancestral waters of the Waponahki Nation, a rich and diverse environment that has sustained Passamaquoddy people for thousands of generations

Three LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminals have been proposed for Passamaquoddy Bay.  In order for LNG tankers to enter the bay they must pass through Head Harbor passage, a narrow passage between the two Canadian islands, Campobello and Deer Island. Head Harbor passage is also known for its populations of porpoise and the endangered North Atlantic right whale.  Scientific studies have identified the highest biodiversity for the Bay of Fundy in the Head Harbor Passage area.

David Moses Bridges is a traditional artist, birch bark canoe maker, educator, community activist, and co-founder of Nulankeyutmonen Nkihtakmikon (We Take Care of the Homeland).
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