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| WASHINGTON, DC-- U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy,
D-MA, and U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan, D-MA, announced today that they have
secured $500,000 in land acquisition funding for the Great Meadows
National Wildlife Refuge Complex in the fiscal year 2000 Interior
Appropriations Conference Report. The Conference Report, a compromise
between the House and Senate versions of the Interior Appropriations
bills, earmarks $500,000 for the acquisition of land by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service in Billerica and Harvard. The legislation was passed by
the House of Representatives this week.
"With funding for federal land acquisition dramatically slashed by Congressional appropriators, I am pleased we were able to secure money that will go toward critical additions to Great Meadows," Congressman Meehan said. "Preserving open space is one of the most effective and important tools we have to sustain the high quality of life that we enjoy in our region." "This is very good news for Great Meadows," said Senator Kennedy. "By securing this federal funding, we can protect open space and natural habitat which helps protect the quality of life for families and neighborhoods." The funding will enable the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to purchase two tracts of land along the Concord River in Billerica that have been held for the past four years by the Sudbury Valley Trustees. These parcels serve as a crucial buffer zone for wetlands recently acquired by the refuge. Adjacent to existing refuge lands, the land in Billerica will provide an upland nesting habitat for migratory birds. The money also will likely go toward the acquisition of the Watt Farm at the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, a satellite of the Great Meadows Complex. The 120-acre farm contains extensive grasslands which will provide a much needed nesting and feeding habitat for migratory birds in the Nashua River Valley. The town of Harvard and Harvard Land Trust have already initiated the purchase of the land with the intention of selling the parcel to the Fish and Wildlife Service at a later date. Senator Kennedy and Congressman Meehan had urged House and Senate conferees to secure funding for Great Meadows land acquisition. Overall funding levels for land preservation were hotly contested by Congressional appropriators, resulting in an appropriation of less than half of the funds the administration requested for land acquisition nationwide as part of its "Lands Legacy Initiative." The House-passed Interior Conference Report, pending approval by the Senate, will proceed to consideration by the President. |
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