Local conservation projects have received more than $345,0000 in grants from the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, the state announced this week.

The largest grant this round will provide $49,000 for Gov. John Baldacci’s effort to promote sustainability certification of Maine’s industrial forests, and to secure profitable markets for the “green” wood.

The Outdoor Heritage Fund takes money from the sales of conservation-themed lottery tickets and directs the profits to grants for projects in four categories: fisheries and wildlife conservation, public lands, endangered and threatened species conservation, and natural resources law enforcement.

Since the grant program began eight years ago, more than $11 million has been distributed to more than 400 projects statewide.

The next deadline for applications is March 1, 2005. For more information, call 688-4191 or visit http://www.maine

.gov/ifw/outdoorheritage.

The 20 programs funded this week also include:

. $10,000 to the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine for an effort to create trophy landlocked salmon fisheries, in partnership with the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

. $40,062 to support state surveys of high-priority wildlife habitat, and $40,975 for the State Planning Office, Maine Audubon and the Nature Conservancy to provide habitat information to land trusts and local governments, in cooperation with state and federal agencies.

. $25,000 for the Margaret Chase Smith Center at the University of Maine to conduct an analysis of the economic impacts of state parks in partnership with the Department of Conservation.

. $5,143 for the Allagash Alliance to catalog and map the remains of the Eagle Lake Tramway and Eagle Lake and West Branch Railroad in northern Aroostook County, in partnership with the National Park Service and the Department of Conservation.

. $6,375 to purchase an all-terrain vehicle for municipal and county law enforcement officers to patrol Newport’s multiuse trail system, in partnership with the Department of Conservation.

For the full list of November Outdoor Heritage Fund grants, visit www.bangornews.com.