SNOWE, COLLINS ANNOUNCE $500,000 FOR HANCOCK COUNTY ATLANTIC SALMON PROJECT

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) and Susan M. Collins (R-ME) today announced that the Narraguagus/Spring River Project in Hancock County has received $500,000 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund.

"Atlantic salmon are a highly valued natural resource for Maine, and this grant will allow the State and the Nature Conservancy to take long-term steps to protect the endangered species," Snowe and Collins said in a joint statement.

This grant will contribute to the landscape level protection of 9,934 acres along the Narraguagus and Spring Rivers, protecting 25,000 square meters of juvenile rearing habitat for Atlantic salmon and 1,287 square meters of spawning habitat. Acquisition of this property would create up to 24,000 acres of contiguous conservation land in Hancock County.

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