Washburn awarded grant for Mill Pond improvements
WASHBURN, Maine — Snow may be on the ground for weeks to come, thanks to this week’s snowfall and the potential for more storms before the season comes to an end, but local officials are already making plans for warmer weather, following the recent announcement Washburn is one of several municipalities scheduled to receive grants from the Natural Resource Conservation Program.
“Washburn will receive a grant for $21,000, with funds being used to work on the Mill Pond area. We’ll work on vegetation and trees, making improvements around the park area,” said Town Manager Bev Turner.
Turner said nothing will happen until spring.
“Once the snow clears and we see where the water’s flowing, we’ll have a better idea of what needs to be done,” said Turner.
More than $1 million is being awarded, helping public and nonprofit groups restore and protect high priority wetlands and other natural resources across Maine.
The Maine Natural Resource Conservation Program — which is administered by The Nature Conservancy in collaboration with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — announced awards totaling $1,051,530 to help restore, enhance or preserve wetlands and other important habitats at eight project sites around the state.
The program provides flexibility for both regulators and the regulated community to choose a fee in lieu of more time-intensive traditional mitigation options. These so-called in-lieu fees are collected by the Maine DEP and then transferred to the Natural Resource Conservation Fund at The Nature Conservancy.
Since its first funding round in 2009, the MNRC Program has awarded $8.5 million towards 66 projects across Maine.
“After six rounds of these awards, we’re starting to see real progress toward conserving Maine’s aquatic resources,” said Alex Mas, who manages the program for the NCM. “Traditional mitigation projects can often be scattered, small or poorly located; this program allows us to focus wetland mitigation funds in high priority areas to help ensure they continue to provide important benefits for people and for wildlife into the future.”
“After all efforts have been made to avoid or minimize wetland impacts, this program provides permit applicants an efficient and workable alternative to traditional mitigation, while providing a better outcome for our wetland habitats,” said Ruth Ladd, of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District. “The fees are used to restore, enhance, preserve or create ecologically significant aquatic resources and their associated uplands.”
This is the sixth round of awards from the MNRC Program to advance important land and water conservation around the state, including $21,000 to the town of Washburn, to restore riverside habitat on Salmon Brook, following the removal of a dam in 2014.
For more information on the MNRC Program, visit http://mnrcp.org/. For more information on the Nature Conservancy, visit www.nature.org/maine.
