Downeast conservation project to receive national award

Durham, NH - Nearly 20 federal, state and local agencies, organizations and individuals that have made significant contributions to a Maine environmental conservation project will soon receive national recognition.

The USDA Forest Service’s “Wings Across the Americas Award” recognizes outstanding efforts on behalf of conservation. The 2006 recipient of the national award is the team responsible for the Machias River Project of Maine. The Machias River Project is helping to conserve more than 400,000 acres of pristine land that serves as a critical North American bird habitat.

The national program is a Forest Service initiative bringing together partners from around the Western Hemisphere to manage, restore and maintain the habitats of the hundreds of species of birds native to the Americas. Forest Service employees apply their skills in land management, research, and private land assistance to advance bird conservation science and address management opportunities and concerns. Local and regional partnerships and projects promote bird conservation on the ground on the National Forests, National Grasslands and with private landowners.

The Machias River Project Phases I, II, and III, brought public and private sector partners together to conserve forests, riparian areas, lakeshores and wetlands through land acquisitions and easements. By the end of Phase III, the project will invest more than $5.4 million in federal funds, leveraged by more than $8.8 million non-federal matching dollars. By connecting with other protected tracts, the project will help preserve 416,301 acres.

More than 59,000 key forested and wetland acres are already protected by this project through fee purchase and easements. These are acres identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the top priority for wildlife and fish protection along the Gulf of Maine coast. More than 28 bird species of high conservation concern, including the bald eagle, American black duck and Canada warbler, use the project area as do four species of declining migratory fish.

Most of the more than 700 migratory and resident bird species in North America depend on forests, yet forest habitats in all of the Americas are declining. Long-term conservation of birds depends on sustaining forests that are suitable habitats for them, other wildlife and fish. Through partnership agreements with state and local governments, conservation organizations, and private landowners, the Forest Service Forest Legacy Program helps protects important forestland from conversion to non-forest uses.

The Forest Legacy Program is a partnership between states and the Forest Service to identify and help conserve environmentally important forests from conversion to non-forest uses. The main tool used for protecting these important forests is conservation easements. The Federal government may fund up to 75% of program costs, with at least 25% coming from private, state or local sources.

“We had a lot of partners, said Deirdre Raimo, one of the top award recipients and the Forest Service Northeastern Area Forest Legacy coordinator. “The Machias Project is representative of the level of projects put forth in forest protection programs. It shows what Forest Legacy is doing across the country.”

Among those sharing the top honors are Ralph Knoll, Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands; Tom Rumpf, The Nature Conservancy, Maine Chapter; and The Nature Conservancy, Maine Chapter.

Receiving certificates of appreciation in connection with the project are: International Paper Company; Atlantic Salmon Commission; Machias River Watershed Council; Sportsman's Alliance of Maine; Atlantic Salmon Federation; Trout Unlimited Maine; Project Share; Quoddy Regional Land Trust; Downeast Rivers Land Trust; Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife; Land for Maine's Future Program; Gulf of Maine Project—US Fish and Wildlife Service; The Conservation Fund; Open Space Institute; and Downeast Lakes Land Trust.

The award ceremony will be held March 23 at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Columbus, Ohio.

On the Net: Forest Legacy Program: http://www.na.fs.fed.us/legacy/