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Maine Coalition Among Those Highlighted At White House Conference

Brunswick, Maine—August 26, 2005—The White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation will highlight the success of a Maine coalition working to protect coastal habitat in midcoast Maine. Three of the Maine partners – representing private, state and federal cooperation – will attend the conference in St. Louis Aug. 29-Aug. 31. A description of the 18-member Maine Wetlands Protection Coalition’s work is among many submitted for recognition by U.S. Fish and Wildlife personnel nationwide. Stewart Fefer of the USFWS’s Gulf of Maine Project, Ken Elowe of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife and Will Brune of The Nature Conservancy will be on hand in St. Louis to describe how their partnership in the Kennebec Estuary can serve as a model for conservation efforts throughout the nation and around the world.
 
Since 1992, the Maine Wetlands Protection Coalition has worked to protect high value habitat in the Kennebec Estuary through an innovative partnership of public and private entities. By taking advantage of the collective strengths of each Coalition member, this habitat protection success story continues to grow and evolve. The Coalition has permanently protected more than 11,000 acres within the estuary and is a prime example of the cooperation and collaboration that will be the focus of the conference.
 
“The Kennebec Estuary is truly a remarkable place. An important place,” said Stewart Fefer who nominated the Coalition for inclusion in the Conference. Fefer is Project Leader of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Gulf of Maine Project. “The Kennebec Estuary is on par with the other big East Coast Estuaries, including the Hudson and Chesapeake in terms importance for wildlife. Virtually every species of waterfowl found in the Atlantic Flyway can be found in the area during breeding, migrating, and overwintering periods.”
 
Working together, the Coalition has accomplished what none of the organizations could have achieved independently, Fefer added.
 
Ken Elowe, Director of Resources for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and chairman of the Maine Wetlands Protection Coalition will represent the state at the conference and will share his experiences of working within this remarkable partnership.
 
The conference, convened by the White House Council on Environmental Quality, is designed to encourage federal agencies that oversee environmental and natural resource policies and programs to promote cooperative conservation through partnerships with state, tribal and local governments, communities, private for-profit and non-profit organizations, and private citizens.  It will bring together interested participants and decision makers who can advance cooperative conservation and identify ideas for future conservation and environmental policies and initiatives.
 
“By working together, thousands of acres and over 100 miles of shoreline have been permanently conserved in the Kennebec Estuary” said Will Brune, Director of Land Protection at The Nature Conservancy in Maine, who will also be heading for St. Louis. “It’s really all about all these different people, groups and agencies working together toward a common goal and each bringing their own expertise and experiences to the table to make things happen to protect this special place.”
 
That expertise and experience appears virtually endless when you consider the partners that comprise the Coalition:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Maine Department of Agriculture
Maine Department of Conservation
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries
Maine Natural Areas Program
Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund
Land for Maine’s Future Program
University of Maine
Bates College
Ducks Unlimited
Maine Coast Heritage Trust
Maine Audubon
The Nature Conservancy
Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust
Friends of Merrymeeting Bay
Lower Kennebec Regional Land Trust
Phippsburg Land Trust
Chewonki Foundation
Bowdoin College

The Kennebec Estuary Project will be featured in “Faces and Places of Cooperative Conservation” – a publication of the conference that will also serve as the basis for Cooperative Conservation America -- www.cooperativeconservationamerica.org -- a comprehensive online database of stories, lessons, models and achievements that provides conservationists from every walk of life an opportunity to contribute to, and learn from, a common pool of conservation knowledge, tools, and practices.
 
The Kennebec Estuary is the largest tidal estuary on the East Coast north of the Chesapeake Bay.  It is comprised of Merrymeeting Bay and the Lower Kennebec River system. Containing over 20% of Maine’s tidal marshes, this system provides critical habitat for several endangered and threatened species, including nesting osprey and eagles, short-nosed sturgeon, piping plover, and least and roseate terns. This pristine area is located close to the state’s largest population centers and is now receiving increasing development pressures.
 
Conservation priorities  in the estuary include habitat for migratory fish, undeveloped shoreline for bald eagle nesting and roosting; intact beaches and dunes that provide habitat for the endangered piping plover and least tern; and freshwater and saltwater tidal marshes.  These conservation properties also provide recreational opportunities including fishing, hunting, and hiking, protect clam flats, support community-based agriculture, and protect drinking water.
 
Recognizing the value of the region, Coalition members have developed an integrated approach to habitat protection. Using data from Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and other sources, biologists have compiled databases, analyzed information and identified 27,000 acres of the highest value waterfowl wetlands, associated upland buffer zones, and threatened and endangered species habitat.
 
The Coalition has received four North American Wetlands Conservation grants to protect important habitat in the region in addition to three National Coastal Wetland Conservation grants, a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant, and a Land for Maine's Future grant. All together, $3.7 million in federal funds and $5.6 million in non-federal funds along with lands donated by willing landowners have been assembled to permanently protect more than 6,300 acres of wetlands and associated upland buffers through this collaborative, voluntary approach. Protected lands within the estuary are managed by private landowners, non-government organizations and the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.