MACHIAS – “The Machias River – Conservation as Economic Opportunity” will be the featured program during a breakfast meeting later this week sponsored by the Machias Bay Area Chamber of Commerce.

Henry Nichols of the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission and Angela Twitchell of The Nature Conservancy will attend the meeting at 8 a.m. Friday, March 8, to explain the Machias River conservation project.

The project includes a conservation easement on more than 28,000 acres of riverfront, tributaries and headwater lakes, and the purchase of an additional 2,800 acres to complement state holdings at Duck Lake.

The easement would be purchased from International Paper Co. and would protect the Machias while maintaining surrounding lands as working forests.

If the project is successful, the preservation of the entire river system would be a precedent in the United States.

International Paper and the state have worked with local organizations, such as the Machias River Watershed Council, the Sunrise County Economic Council, Project S.H.A.R.E., and the Quoddy Regional Land Trust, to bring the project to completion.

The business breakfast and program at the Bluebird Ranch Restaurant is open to the public. The breakfast is $6 for Chamber members and $7 for nonmembers.

To make reservations, contact Machias Dental Care at 255-8601.