None The Nature Conservancy in Maine Press Releases Search All Press Releases Kate Dempsey The Nature Conservancy (207) 729-5181 kdempsey@tnc.org or Alan Hutchinson Forest Society of Maine (207) 945-9200

White House Requests $3.3 Million in Forest Legacy Funds for Maine’s Lower Penobscot Forest

BANGOR, MAINE — February 5, 2007 — President Bush’s funding request for the Forest Legacy Program for Fiscal Year 2008 includes $3.3 million to protect forests that lie within 15 highway miles of Bangor.

The Lower Penobscot Forest Project will protect over 42,000 acres within the largest unfragmented forest block in central Maine. A 2005 study by the US Forest Service ranked these forests as the nation’s most threatened by housing development. The project is a partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Forest Society of Maine (FSM) and the Maine Department of Conservation.

“We are pleased that the President shares our belief that these forests are of national importance,” said Mike Tetreault, executive director of The Nature Conservancy in Maine. “The Lower Penobscot Forest Project will head off a wedge of subdivisions that are threatening to separate Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge from lands protected by the State. The land includes forested wetlands, bogs, old-growth spruce-fir forests and the second largest red pine woodland in Maine.”

A total of $5.5 million has been requested from the Forest Legacy Program for the Lower Penobscot Forest Project. The Conservancy, FSM, and the State are working to secure an additional $2.2 million in the FY07 budget, which is currently under debate in Congress. The project has already been awarded $1.5 million by the Land for Maine’s Future Program.

Once funding is received, the State will acquire a working forest easement on over 25,000 acres near Great Pond. About 5,000 acres in the town of Amherst will also be conserved. The Nature Conservancy is raising funds towards the purchase of over 12,000 acres bordering Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.

“The forests, streams, remote hills and hidden ponds of the Lower Penobscot Forest are an extraordinary resource for people living in the Greater Bangor region,” said Alan Hutchinson, Executive Director of the Forest Society of Maine, “providing places to hike, hunt, fish, and camp, valuable fish and wildlife habitats, and productive forestlands. Forest Legacy funding will help ensure those benefits are carried into the future as the Bangor region grows and prospers.”

Along with applauding the Bush administration for including funding for the Lower Penobscot Forest Project in its budget, Tetreault and Hutchinson also commended Maine’s Congressional Delegation for their longtime support of the project.

“I am extremely pleased that the President’s budget prioritizes the Lower Penobscot Forest Legacy project as the 3rd most important in the country,” said Senator Snowe. “A recent U.S. Forest Service Study ranked this area as the most susceptible to development in the country – and it would be simply unacceptable for the people of Maine to lose this open land. I look forward to working with my colleagues and ensuring that the Lower Penobscot Forest Legacy project is preserved for generations to come.”

“I am pleased that the President’s budget request includes support for the Lower Penobscot Forest project,” said Senator Collins. “This significant request acknowledges the importance of protecting tens of thousands of acres of unspoiled land, including the largest unfragmented forests in Central Maine, for generations of Maine people to enjoy.”

"The Lower Penobscot Forest Project will help to protect and preserve important and unique lands for the continued enjoyment of residents of the surrounding towns and the region,” said Congressman Michaud. “I am happy to see the project included the President's budget request."

The Forest Legacy Program is a partnership between the United States Forest Service (USFS), state governments and private landowners that identifies and protects ecologically important forest habitat which is threatened by possible development or unsustainable practices. Program objectives are met through land acquisition or the use of conservation easements, which protect working forests while meeting important conservation goals.

Since its first appropriations in Fiscal Year 1992, the Forest Legacy Program has conserved nearly one and a half million acres across 35 states and territories. This program has also provides excellent leverage of the forest conservation federal investment by protecting over $607 million of land value with a Federal investment of $301 million. This year the President has requested nearly $30 million for the Forest Legacy Program, compared with $60 million in FY07.

“Maine has successfully used the Forest Legacy Program to conserve more than 600,000 acres of working forest lands. Maine’s projects continue to be competitively ranked nationally,” said Governor John Baldacci. “Significant funding from Congress for this program is essential to keeping Maine’s forests a thriving part of our communities.”

The Bush Administration’s Forest Legacy Program budget is part of the larger Fiscal Year 2008 funding bill for the Department of the Interior and the USFS.

Learn more about the Lower Penobscot Forest Project.

The Nature Conservancy is the leading conservation organization working to protect the most ecologically important lands and waters around the world for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.

Forest Society of Maine, a statewide land trust based in Bangor, was established in 1984 to work with private landowners. FSM’s mission is to conserve the values of Maine’s forestlands by maintaining traditional forest uses, sustaining their economic contributions, and preserving their ecological and recreational values.