Accomplishments

A Maine river in the fall.	Credit: USFWS

Using a voluntary, non-regulatory approach and by identifying individuals and organizations with common interests and goals, we have achieved far more than any of our organizations could have accomplished alone.

Since the early 1990s, we have worked with many partners to:

• Identify and assess habitat values for:
  • coastal nesting islands in Maine,
  • all 12 species of diadromous
    (searun) fish statewide,
  • priority trust species throughout the U.S.
    portion of the Gulf of Maine watershed,
  • restoration site priorities in Scarborough
    Marsh, Maine's largest salt marsh, and
  • Atlantic salmon in surveyed Maine watersheds.

• Build capacity of grassroots partners to become self-sustaining and effective.

• Permanently protect nearly 1.7 million acres of important fish
  and wildlife habitat in Maine at more than 340 sites, including:
  • 18 uplands,
  • 60 coastal islands,
  • nearly 200 coastal wetlands,
  • 4 landscape-scale northern forest projects, and
  • 65 habitat protection projects along Atlantic salmon rivers.

• Restore fish and wildlife habitat at more than 160 sites, including:
  • 12 seabird nesting islands,
  • 6 native grasslands and pine barren sites.
  • 77 salt marshes and other coastal wetlands, and
  • 69 river and riparian sites (including 11 dam removal
    and 18 fishway installations or repair projects).

• Leverage U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) funds with other federal,
  state, and private funds at a ratio of $1 USFWS to $4 of other funds.

• Bring more than $43 million in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service funds to Maine conservation projects.

For a summary of our accomplishments, in partnership with others,
check out the Gulf of Maine Coastal Program fact sheet (PDF 139 KB).