A plan to protect wild Atlantic salmon habitat on the Machias River in Washington County was one of 25 projects endorsed by the Land for Maine’s Future board last week.

The board preliminarily approved allocating $2.8 million toward the state purchase of a 26,560-acre conservation easement along the river, which is home to salmon placed on the federal endangered species list two years ago.

In addition, the state would buy 18,000 acres near the river to complement existing state holdings south of the village of Grand Lake Stream. The federal government has committed $2 million to the project.

Some have criticized the project, which will cost at least $15 million, as a waste of money. That’s because the landowner, International Paper Co., has done a good job of managing the land and its activities do not threaten salmon habitat. Rather, the money should be directed to concerns raised by federal fish regulators about salmon survival, such as strengthening fish pens so farmed salmon don’t escape and preventing all-terrain vehicles from crossing the river.

Despite such concerns, the Land for Maine’s Future board unanimously endorsed the project during two days of meetings in Hallowell.

“It’s a big step,” Fred Kircheis, the executive director of the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission, said Monday. The board’s vote “acknowledges that this is a desirable thing for the state to be involved with,” he added.

Under the proposal, 40 miles of the Machias River and its tributaries in Washington and Hancock counties would be protected.

The land that is purchased will be owned by the Department of Conservation and the easement on the other land will be held by the salmon commission.

All the land will be available for public use, Kircheis said. No development will be allowed in the protected areas.

Tree harvesting by IP or a future landowner will be restricted near the river and tributaries to ensure that sediment does not end up in the water, and that water temperatures are not increased because too many trees are cut.

“This watershed is vitally important to salmon restoration,” said Gerard Zegers, the president of the Machias River Watershed Council.

Restoring salmon fishing to the river would benefit the local economy in an area that has been hard hit by the decline in timber industry jobs, he said.

The state is currently in the process of having the land assessed before a final price tag can be put on the project, Kircheis said. It is hoped that this will be done by March or April.

Acquisition of land on a neighboring salmon river, the Dennys River, by the state is nearly complete. Purchase of all the river frontage outside Dennysville was completed at the end of last year. State officials are now working with the Dennysville selectmen to determine how to compensate the town because the property acquisition within the township boundaries constitutes more than 1 percent of the town’s assessed value.

Of the 3,200 acres the state hopes to purchase, 800 are in Dennysville.

In all, the LMF board allocated $11.3 million to 25 land conservation projects covering 42,000 acres. A dozen projects were in southern Maine, which the board termed “sprawl hot spots.”

The finalists were chosen from 36 applicants. Funding for the projects will come from a $50 million bond issue approved by Maine voters in 1999. The Land for Maine’s Future board has 11 members, five who hold state offices and six who are private citizens appointed by the governor. The board decides which Maine lands will be set aside for conservation.