Maine wetlands to benefit from $880,000 in grants

Eight wetland projects in Maine’s Central Interior and Midcoast and Southern regions will receive grants to fund their preservation, restoration and enhancement efforts from the Maine Natural Resource Conservation Program (MNRCP), totalling more than $880,000.

The MNRCP is coordinated between Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF), Department of Marine Resources (DMR) and Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife (DIF&W), along with the federal Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Fish and Wildlife Service. It allows people and organizations applying with the DEP to undertake developments that might affect wetlands to remain in compliance by funding projects beneficial to them. Payments made to the MNRCP go toward protecting, preserving and enhancing the state’s wetland areas.

This year, the bulk of the funding went toward projects that will restore and enhance, such as the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust’s Little River Habitat Restoration project and the Three Rivers Land Trust’s Walnut Hill-Sousa project. Some preservation projects, like a proposal from the Orono Land Trust to acquire Caribou Bog, were also selected. Unused funds given to the MNRCP will go toward next year’s projects.