Posted on January 13, 2025
PORTLAND — A program working to restore Maine’s wetlands is getting a more than $1 million boost to help their cause.
The Maine DEP announced Monday that it will give $1.2 million to the Maine Natural Resource Conservation Project, or MNRCP, for three projects.
“The money comes through the permitting process for the state of Maine, so as developers build projects and develop things in Maine, oftentimes they impact wetlands and streams and other aquatic resources, and so they have to compensate for those impacts in some way,” Maine Nature Conservancy Mitigation Program Manager Bryan Emerson said.
In Kennebunkport, the money will help restore nine acres of former farming land to woods and wetlands.
Those fields are next to a stream and will improve water quality and flood control.
The money will also improve a salt marsh in Biddeford and create more habitats for wildlife.
It will do the same at three tidal restriction zones in Bowdoinham.
A spokesperson for that project says that this is particularly important in Merrymeeting Bay, one of the most diverse ecosystems in the state.
