Funding Sources
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Maine Atlantic Salmon Conservation Fund
Maine Atlantic Salmon Conservation Fund (MASCF) supports efforts to recover wild Atlantic salmon by maintaining and restoring healthy watersheds. MASCF has provided needed funds to identify and assess, permanently protect, and restore Atlantic salmon rivers -- with a focus on the Penobscot River and Maine rivers that harbor federally listed "wild Atlantic salmon." Since 1997, MASCF has worked in partnership with other federal and state agencies and local watershed groups to:
- fund riparian habitat protection and restoration initiatives,
- conduct habitat assessment work to identify priority projects,
- build capacity of local organizations promoting salmon recovery,
- support implementation of best management practices for aquaculture, timber harvest and blueberry production, and
- provide technical support to help partners identify, prioritize and implement successful projects.
Since its inception, MASCF has supported more than 120 projects and permanently protected more than 54,000 acres of riparian habitat critical to long-term survival of Atlantic salmon. MASCF has provided more than $11.6 million in federal funds and leveraged an additional $13 million for conservation activities promoting Atlantic salmon recovery.
From 2001 - 2006, MASCF has been supported with annual Congressional authorizations from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service budget that have ranged between $1.5 - $2 million annually. Those funds have been directed to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), and jointly implemented by NFWF and our Gulf of Maine Coastal Program Office. In 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service funded MASCF with a $485,000 appropriation not linked to NFWF. If the MASCF is going to continue in 2008, it will continue to require direct Congressional support.
For more information:
- Review Maine's Wild Atlantic Salmon fact sheet (112 KB PDF).
- View slideshow highlighting several of our Atlantic salmon habitat protection and restoration activities.
- Download the Maine Atlantic Salmon Conservation Fund overviews for 2006 and 2007, which describe accomplishments of the Maine Atlantic Salmon Conservation Fund.
- Review Identifying and Assessing Atlantic Salmon Habitat which leads you to maps of spawning and rearing habitat and describes a new intitiative to identify barriers to fish passage.
- Contact: Jed Wright, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Gulf of Maine Coastal Program (207-781-8364 ext. 12; jed_wright@fws.gov),