Interior bill appropriates $13M for Maine projects

WASHINGTON – More than $13 million in federal funding for land and wildlife projects in Maine has been approved in the 2006 Interior Appropriations bill passed 99-1 by the U.S. Senate on Friday, according to Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins.

The bill includes $26.2 billion in funding for the Department of the Interior and related agencies nationwide.

“So much of Maine’s heritage, economy, and identity is based on the integrity of our state’s wilderness,” Snowe and Collins said in a joint statement. “The funding that has been included in the Interior appropriations bill will play a vital role in protecting and preserving Maine’s natural beauty and resources.”

Snowe and Collins said the bill includes funding for the following Maine projects:

. $4.5 million for the Katahdin Ironworks Forest Legacy Project. It proposes a conservation easement over 37,000 acres of forested lands to protect natural and recreational resources, ensure permanent public access and provide for sustainable harvesting to support the local wood products economy.

. $2.48 million for the Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery in East Orland to support compliance with wastewater treatment and environmental regulations.

. $1.5 million for the Machias River Phase 2 Forest Legacy Project to acquire 7,785 acres of land, including a 1,000-foot corridor along shorelines on 3rd, 4th, and 5th Machias Lakes and 5th Machias Stream, as well as a 2,286 acre parcel of forest land expanding the Duck Lake Unit to Nicatous Lake and Gassabias Stream. With both phases completed, 270 miles of prime lake, river, and stream frontage will be protected.

. $1 million for the Penobscot River Restoration Project. This funding will be used for the purchase and removal of the Great Works Dam and the Veazie Dam on the Penobscot River. The Penobscot River Restoration Project is a five-year, $50 million project to restore the natural flow of Maine’s largest watershed.

. $1 million for the Atlantic Salmon Recovery – National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in support of efforts to protect the Atlantic salmon in Maine.

. $750,000 for the New England Green Chemistry Consortium to support interdisciplinary research collaborations between New England universities and industry. Green chemistry is a science-based approach to pollution prevention involving reducing or eliminating the use or generation of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture or application of chemical products.

. $600,000 for Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge to acquire four properties, including two significant ownerships in the Parsons Beach area that total 100 acres and abut already protected refuge lands in a critical protection focus area.

. $350,000 for the University of Maine: Northern States Research Cooperative to study the long-term effects of different modes of partial harvesting on growth and yield, genetic diversity of crop trees, the benefits of trying to manage for late-successional forest types, and the maintenance of biodiversity and environmental quality.

. $472,000 for Dover-Foxcroft Water District: Pleasant River Lumber Waterline Extension Project to complete a waterline extension and water system upgrade project.

. $500,000 for the town of Machias to address deficiencies in the community’s wastewater collection system and wastewater treatment facility.