Conservation Department Awards Four Community Recreation Grants

November 10, 2010

Contact: Jeanne Curran, (207) 287-3156

Conservation Department Awards Four Community Recreation Grants

AUGUSTA, Maine – Four Maine communities will receive outdoor recreation grants totaling more than $170,000, the Maine Department of Conservation (MDOC) announced today.

The grant funding, which comes from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), will be used, once approved, for two playgrounds, a community soccer field, and a waterfront recreation area, according to MDOC officials.

The Maine grants are being announced as national legislation ensuring the full funding of $900 million a year for LWCF is pending in Congress. The program, which has provided more than $40 million to Maine since its inception in 1964, already has the support of U.S. Reps. Michael Michaud and Chellie Pingree and has received support in the past from Maine’s U.S. senators, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe.

LWCF funding comes from offshore oil and gas drilling revenues and is used to acquire important habitat and recreational land, as well as to improve public access to fish, wildlife and other natural resources. While the program has protected significant areas of land and water over the years, funding by Congress has been low, unpredictable and often diverted elsewhere.

“Maine’s communities once again are benefiting from this federal fund, which has been used through the years not only to support outdoor recreation facilities in our cities and towns, but also much-needed improvements at our Maine state parks,” MDOC Commissioner Eliza Townsend said. “Continuation of this essential federal funding will help Maine residents stay healthy, improve community and state park facilities, preserve green space and support local economies.”

“The grants provide money for outdoor recreation for towns and municipalities, anything from swimming pools to playgrounds to ski areas to golf courses,” Mick Rogers, Grant and Recreation manager for the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, under MDOC, said.

Rogers pointed out that 833 projects have been approved for Maine communities since LWCF’s establishment. Grant funding is handled through the National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Department of the Interior.

The four projects being funded this year, pending NPS approval, are:

Town of Frenchville, $16,412, for the renovation of an existing playground;
Town of Fort Kent, $57,000, for the building of a soccer field at a community park;
Town of St. Albans, $25,000, for the construction of a new community playground at the town recreation area;
Town of Topsham, $74,850, for the Head of Tide development project on the Cathance River, including a boat landing, picnic area and fishing area.

Rogers said that there 21 potential applicants this year for the federal grants, which must be matched 50-50 by the receiving communities. The application process can be a lengthy procedure and requires site visits to applying projects, he said.

The projects are expected to be approved by the National Park Service in the next three to six weeks, Rogers said. The next round of grant funding will start in February.

Commissioner Townsend pointed out that LWCF supports 48,000 jobs in Maine’s nature tourism and outdoor recreation industry, which contributes more than $3 billion in annual revenue to Maine’s economy. The LWCF program already has provided millions of dollars to popular natural areas including; Acadia National Park, Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge, Saddleback Mountain and the Appalachian Trail, which in turn supported jobs and the economy in Maine.

Through the Forest Legacy Program, which has supported conservation work near Grand Lake Stream and the Machias River, LWCF also supports Maine’s traditional forest industries, the commissioner said. Working forest conservation easements purchased with LWCF funds preserve the local tax base and forestry jobs in addition to recreational access.

“It has made significant improvements in Maine communities and definitely contributes to our quality of life, quality of place and economy,” Commissioner Townsend said.

For more information about LWCF grants, go to: http://www.maine.gov/doc/parks/programs/community/lwgrants.html

For more information about LWCF, go to: http://www.lwcfcoaltion.org