Maine conservation program relaunches with 5 new projects

WESTON, Maine (AP) — A conservation program in Maine has selected five projects that will serve as its first since its reestablishment.

The Land for Maine's Future fund received $40 million in state funding under the state's most recent biennial budget. The state accepted applications for the program last year for the first time since 2017.

The largest of the projects covers more than 4,300 areas near the Canada border in far northern Maine in the East Grand Lake area. The project will provide hunting, fishing and other outdoor opportunities in the Weston area.

Democratic Gov. Janet Mills said Wednesday the conservation projects show Maine is "once again preserving our cherished lands and waters in a meaningful way.”

The five projects total a little more than $3 million. One of the others is the Buck's Ledge Community Forest project, which will preserve 634 acres in the town of Woodstock. Other projects involve the Kennebago River headwaters, the Kennebec Highlands in Vienna and New Sharon and the Caribou Stream Deer Wintering Area in Woodland and Washburn.