UPDATE! February 22, 2001

Greetings Conservation Partners, Collaborators, and Friends

1. Conservation Planning

Fuller Farm Conservation Project

The Fuller Farm Conservation Project, Scarborough Land Conservation Trust's largest and most ambitious project in its 24-year history is making good progress. The Project, located in western Scarborough, involves the acquisiiton and protection of 2 properties: 1) the 150-acre Fuller Farm, and 2) the 30-acre Blue Rock parcel. Together, the 180-acre area has approximately 3,500 feet of frontage along the Nonesuch River, Scarborough's largest river, which flows into the state-protected Scarborough Marsh. The Coastal Mosaic Project at the Wells Reserve has provided technical assistance to this effort.

From a conservation perspective, the project has multiple benefits such as agriculture, forest, river frontage, wildlife habitat, scenic open space, and recreational trails all exist on the properties. SLCT has partnered with the Trust for Public Land (TPL) on this effort and is working to raise over $700,000 to purchase the parcels. Several conservation and public lands also exist nearby, making the Fuller Farm properties anchor parcels for a larger 400-acre conservation vision for the area.

Farmland Protection

The Maine Department of Agriculture and the State Planning Office have contracted with the American Farmland Trust to help them in the development of a state-wide strategy for Farmland Protection. We are fortunate to have some of the tools already in place, but more can be done to encourage the protection of one of our most valuable resources, agricultural land. A Conservation Workshop for farmers and land trust board and staff members will be held on Wednesday, April 11th, from 9AM to 1PM at the Pine Tree State Arboretum. Jerry Cosgrove, Northeast Regional Director of the American Farmland Trust, will be conducting this workshop. Many of you know Jerry for his work in the area of estate planning for farmers. This half-day session will be important to those who are considering application during the next round of Land for Maine's Future proposals, and for land trust members wishing to learn more about the "art" of farmland protection. Lunch will be provided after the workshop and Jerry will stay for informal discussion. Please spread the word to landowners you know who may be interested. To register, contact Judy Perry at the Department of Agriculture, Commissioner's Office, 287-3871. A charge of $8.00 per person will cover lunch and room rental.

2. GIS Mapping

3. Training and Support

4. Resource Information

5. Communication and Outreach

Could your organization use volunteers?

CMP intern Emily Banelis, a University of New England student is developing a pamphlet directed at students on how they can become involved in community conservation projects. Emily would like permission to include your organization and the name of a contact person for the pamphlet. If you have suitable tasks and the ability to supervise / train you and would like your organization included in the publication email Emily at Emily.banelis@webmail.une.edu. by February 28th, 2001.

Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA)

CARA is back this session after failing to be enacted last fall. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) Wednesday reintroduced the Conservation and Reinvestment Act, or CARA bill, that last year pitted large oil-producing states and conservation-minded lawmakers against appropriators and property rights advocates.

The bill, which is again numbered H.R. 701, would direct $3.1 billion per year from outer continental shelf (OCS) oil and gas receipts to a variety of conservation programs, according to one of Young's aides. The amount is an increase from last year's $2.8 billion per year figure. H.R. 701 would fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund at $900 million -- half for federal land purchases and half as matching grants to states for conservation purposes. Coastal states would get $1 billion for shoreline restoration.

The bill also would earmark $350 million for wildlife conservation and restoration; $125 million for the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Program; $150 million (an increase of $50 million from last year) for the Historic Preservation Fund; $200 million for federal and Indian lands restoration; and $50 million (a decreases of $100 million) for endangered and threatened species recovery, according to House Resources Committee staff.

Also new from last year's version, the National Maritime Heritage Act would be funded with $10 million, the committee staffer said.

Last year's measure passed the House by a 315-102 vote in May. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee cleared a slightly different version of the bill in July, but it never made it to the floor for a vote.

Instead, a new funding category that benefitted some CARA programs was inserted into the Interior and related agencies' appropriations bill for FY '01 (P.L. 106-291). That category put $1.6 billion toward land acquisition, historic preservation, national land maintenance and PILT. The amount is allowed to increase by $160 million per year for five more years, but it is subject to annual appropriations, and CARA supporters said that was no guarantee of funding.

Environmental groups who backed CARA the first time around said they were thrilled that Young and nine cosponsors reintroduced the bill, but property rights groups still oppose the measure they say would put more land into the federal government's hands. In addition, the money meant for state and local entities would be controlled by federal agencies, rather than the funding coming from the general treasury, said Dave Riggs, director of land and natural resource policy for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a property rights advocacy group. "That is bad for the environment and especially bad for people who live adjacent to newly acquired government land," he said.

Back to Coastal Mosaic Project main page.