| |
News and announcements
2008 Archives
 |
| Vinalhaven. |
Credit: Caroline Norden/MCHT |
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service funds seven Maine habitat protection projects
March 28, 2008
Project Coordinator:
Stewart Fefer
207-781-8364 x17
stewart_fefer@fws.gov
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that conservation groups in Maine
will receive $375,000 to support five habitat protection initiatives through
the Small North American Wetland Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant program. In
addition, two habitat protection projects (totaling $150,000) were recommended
for funding to be awarded after approval by the Migratory Bird Conservation
Commission in June. Each of these grants will receive $75,000 - the maximum
amount allowed through this program. In each case, the federal funds are being
matched with other funding sources. "Through the great efforts of
many conservation partners, the seven Maine projects will permanently protect
over 2,500 acres of wetlands and upland buffer that hold high value for waterbirds
and other migratory birds," commented Ken Elowe, Chairman of the Atlantic
Coast Joint Venture and Director of Resource Management for the Maine Department
of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Lands protected with these funds are located
throughout Maine from Vinalhaven Island to Fryeburg, in the foothills of the
White Mountains.
Local and regionally based land trusts and national conservation organizations
have worked in coordination with state and federal biologists to identify habitat
protection opportunities, negotiate with willing landowners, raise matching
funds and finalize the nationally competitive grant proposals. U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Gulf of Maine Coastal Program staff supported several of these grant
proposals by providing and interpreting biological data, offering strategic
advice and guidance, writing biological components of the grant, editing draft
proposals, and providing final maps and wetland calculations.
This year's successful Small NAWCA projects in Maine include
the following:
The Basin - Vinalhaven: The Basin, located on the west side
of Vinalhaven Island in Penobscot Bay, Knox County, Maine is known statewide
for its ecological and scenic importance. The Basin is a five hundred acre
enclosed tidal waterbody, approximately one mile long. It encompasses a great
diversity of natural communities with a mix of forested uplands and wetlands,
rocky pitch pine ledges, streams, and intertidal habitats with high priority
tidal waterfowl and wading bird habitat and seal haul-out areas. This project
will permanently protect 455 acres, 107 acres (23%) of which are wetlands.
Vinalhaven Land Trust and Maine Coast Heritage Trust are project coordinators
for this habitat protection effort.
Hamilton Audubon Sanctuary - West Bath: This
project submitted by Maine Audubon is located on the Back Cove of the New
Meadows River, virtually all of which consists of tidal wetlands that are
considered exceptionally high value habitat. The project will permanently
protect salt and freshwater wetlands and forested uplands, including 8,770
feet of shoreline and 58 acres of wetland. Also protected will be 91 acres
of forest and meadow that buffer these high value coastal wetlands.
South Pond Conservation Area - Buckfield: The Western Foothills
Land Trust's South Pond Conservation Area project will, via a combination
of fee ownership and easement, protect in perpetuity 1,279 acres of wildlife
habitat in Buckfield, Maine. The South Pond Conservation Area will include
383 acres of shrub and red-maple dominated forested wetlands, 230 acres of
wading bird and waterfowl breeding habitat, and over 8,000 feet of shoreline
on a 49-acre undeveloped pond and freshwater stream habitat. In addition,
the forested uplands include early successional mixed forest, steep rocky
ledges, and 85 acres of deer wintering habitat.
Upper Saco River II - Fryeburg: This Upper Saco River
Project will result in the protection of rare forest floodplain habitat that
could otherwise become fragmented under future ownership. This project
fits into a larger habitat protection effort that includes over 5,000 acres
of protected habitat. Partners include The Nature Conservancy, Upper Saco
Valley Land Trust, Saco River Corridor Commission and Maine Department of
Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service funded
Landowner Incentive Program also contributed to this project. The project
will create a uniform and permanent easement on 512 acres (including 456 acres
of valuable wetlands), thus preventing damage to critical habitat values and
water quality.
St. George River Coastal Wetlands - South Thomaston: This
project will permanently protect 91 acres of habitat along the St. George
River, 62% of which is wetlands. The area proposed for permanent protection
includes uplands and surrounding wet meadows, which often have standing water
and are frequently used by ducks and geese. The fields also provide suitable
habitat for grassland species, including killdeer, eastern meadowlark, horned
lark, and northern harrier. Freshwater streams cross the properties, draining
into the estuary of the St. George River. The project also includes extensive
coastal mudflats, which are highly suited to waterfowl, shorebirds and wading
birds. The Georges River Land
Trust partnered with Maine Coast Heritage Trust and others for this important
habitat protection project.
Cathance River: Head of Tide - Topsham: This
project encompasses the head of tide area for the Cathance
River including the waterfall that separates the tidal from the non-tidal
portions of the river. The site is bound by over 1,000 feet of shore frontage,
and is directly associated with a submerged freshwater tidal vegetated wetland
of more than 12 acres. The Town of Topsham is taking the lead in this important
project that includes many partners.
Chauncey Creek - Kittery: The Chauncey creek project is located
on the southwestern-most coast of Maine in the Town of Kittery. More specifically,
the parcel is situated along Chauncey Creek on the northwest corner of Gerrish
Island. The south end of the focus area on Gerrish Island is a complex mosaic
of upland forests, pocket swamps and vernal pools. This large undeveloped
assemblage of habitats is potential habitat for a number of rare plants and
animals. A conservation easement will conserve 16 of those acres: 14 acres
of upland forest, 2 acres of freshwater wetlands and vernal pools, and 2000
feet of undeveloped shoreline on Chauncey Creek. The Kittery Land Trust submitted
this application with many federal, town and private partners.
Back to top
Two National Coastal Wetland
Conservation Grants awarded in Maine
 |
| Ragged Island. |
Credit: USFWS |
January 9, 2008
Project Coordinator:
Stewart Fefer
207-781-8364 x17
stewart_fefer@fws.gov
In January, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Coastal Wetlands
Conservation Grant program delivered $923,700 to two projects in Maine to support
the work of the Maine Wetlands Protection Coalition. $600,000 was awarded to
permanently protect important coastal wetland and upland buffer habitat in the
Ingallshore Conservation Project, Tremont, and $323,000 was awarded to permanently
protect Ragged Island, an important seabird nesting island in Casco Bay, Town
of Harpswell. Maine Coast Heritage Trust(MCHT), a statewide land trust, holds
options to purchase conservation easements on both properties. "Receiving
these funds allows us to move forward towards permanent protection of these
valuable properties," noted David MacDonald, Interim President of MCHT, "If
all goes well, we hope to close on these easements later this year."
The federal grant for Ingallshore will help enable the acquisition of a conservation
easement on 137 acres located on the southwest tip of Mount Desert Island. "This
valuable wetland and upland with more than two miles of shorefront is very important
fish and wildlife habitat and, if protected, will add significantly to protected
lands in this area," commented Brian Reilly of Maine Coast Heritage Trust.
The area is especially significant for waterbirds as the area consists of preferred
beach, mudflat and salt marsh habitat amidst the steep and rocky coastline found
on most of Mount Desert Island. Part of the conservation area will be open to
public access for wildlife viewing and education. Partners in this project include
the landowners, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries
and Wildlife, Ducks Unlimited and US Fish and Wildlife Service.
The second $323,000 Coastal Wetland grant was awarded to permanently protect
Ragged Island in Casco Bay, Harpswell, Maine. This 80 acre island in outer Casco
Bay supports a large and diverse population of nesting seabirds, including eider
ducks, black guillemots, greater black-backed gulls, herring gulls and osprey.
MCHT hopes to purchase a conservation easement with the grant funds to secure
the protection of the 76.6 acre natural area used by the seabirds for nesting.
MCHT will also acquire an easement on the remaining 3.4 acres. "This
protection of Ragged Island is extremely important because of Ragged Island's
exceptional habitat in southern coastal Maine, an area with significant development
pressure and loss of habitat" commented Stewart Fefer, Project Leader
at the US Fish and Wildlife Service Gulf of Maine Coastal Program. The easement,
if acquired will guarantee public access to a beach area on the island as long
as activities do not interfere with nesting seabirds. Partners in this project
include the landowners, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries
and Wildlife, Trustees of the Julie N Oil Spill Settlement Fund, Casco Bay Estuary
Partnership, Ducks Unlimited and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Back to top
|
