Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge Expansion
$1,650,000

Sen. Olympia Snowe (ME) requests $1,650,000 for:
Maine Coast Heritage Trust
Topsham, ME

This earmark is in the following appropriations bill(s):

• P.L. 111-88: The Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

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Summary

The Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge is seeking to acquire five Nationally
Significant Seabird Nesting Islands and a key parcel on a sixth island. Located along
Maine's picturesque coastline, these six nesting locations are scattered among a
collection of more than 4,500 islands of which 377 have been designated as Nationally
Significant Seabird Nesting sites by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. These
fragile ecosystems are home to an array of birds found nowhere else in the United States,
including: common, Arctic, and endangered roseate terns; Atlantic puffins; razorbills;
black guillemots; Leach's storm-petrels; laughing gulls; and common eiders. As of2005,
151 of these Nationally Significant islands lacked permanent protection and 87 of these
islands have been identified in the Maine Coastal Island National Wildlife Refuge
Comprehensive Conservation Plan as appropriate for acquisition by the US Fish &
Wildlife Service.These six acquisitions, available to the Refuge in 2010 from a willing seller, are among
the 87 islands in need of permanent protection. The purpose of the funding is to acquire
private land within the Congressionally-designated boundary of the Maine Coastal
Islands National Wildlife Refuge and add it to the existing public ownership. Completing
this type of project is the reason Congress created the Land and Water Conservation Fund
(LWCF) in 1964. These unique resources will be critical additions to the existing refuge
land, enabling the refuge to continue its efforts to enhance the populations of an array of
seabirds found nowhere else in the United States.

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