CHERRYFIELD – Four of Maine’s five Resource Conservation and Development areas, which bring federal money to local and rural development projects, are in danger of being eliminated from the proposed federal budget of Oct. 1.

Only the Heart of Maine RC&D council, based in Newport and serving much of western Maine, would remain intact.

The targets within the RC&D program, which falls under the U.S. Department of Agriculture budget, are any RC&D areas established more than 20 years ago. The justification in Washington for this cut is that the older RC&D councils should be so well established by now that they can carry out their services using their own resources.

It’s time to contact legislators, Down East RC&D council members heard Thursday at their monthly meeting. The Down East council serves both Washington and Hancock counties.

“It’s now about making phone calls and writing letters,” said Ken White of Ellsworth, a former assistant in the Aroostook County office of Sen. Olympia Snowe. “There will probably be a vote on this in August, but committee meetings will take place sooner.”

The nationwide RC&D program covers 375 specific areas, or regions where state and local governments and nonprofit organizations can be assisted in planning and carrying out programs that affect development in rural America.

A typical RC&D draws on about $165,000 in federal money to fund projects on grassroots levels. But for every dollar appropriated by Congress, local RC&D councils have leveraged an average of $6 from other sources to support conservation and economic development.

The national RC&D program started in 1964. The Down East program was put in place in 1975. Since its authorization, more than 500 projects have been completed. Some of the council’s current projects include:

. Developing an informational brochure for the Ice Age Trail, which identifies significant glacial features across both Hancock and Washington counties.

. Helping upgrade the historic Jonesboro Grange building to meet today’s standards for use as a community building.

. Working with the Hancock County Planning Commission to hold informational sessions about subdivision planning.

Responding to the threat of elimination, White, representing the Hancock County commissioners at the Down East RC&D table, and Jennifer Peters, representing the Sunrise County Economic Council, were quick to ask their colleagues to take action.

Peters circulated the contact details for Maine’s Washington delegation.

“We would no longer have federal staffing or funding,” Peters said of the pending plan. “To continue, we would have to raise funds in other ways. We would have to operate through grants or by charging groups for our technical assistance.

“If you look at all these projects we’ve been working on, there are probably very few groups who could afford to pay for our technical assistance.”

Groups and others who have benefited from Down East RC&D projects through the years should be among those urging legislators to keep the council intact, Peterson stated.

Other RC&D councils serving Maine are the St. John Aroostook program, based in Presque Isle; the Time and Tide program, based in Augusta; and the Threshold to Maine program, based in Gray.