January 5, 1996
Contact: Anne Donovan
(617) 727-9530, x 411

Massachusetts Audubon Society: North Shore and Salem Sound 2000 have each been awarded grants from the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment. The purpose of the grants is to help non-profit organizations in the region to protect and enhance the vitality of the Gulf of Maine.

Massachusetts Audubon Society: North Shore received a $5,000 grant to help fund the Great Marsh Summit, which will be held this spring. The purpose of the summit is to develop a consensus on the actions that are needed to protect the Great Marsh, as well as to develop a strategy to achieve that goal. The Great Salt Marsh, which is the largest salt marsh north of Long Island, covers 20,000 acres along the northern Massachusetts coast, from west Gloucester to the New Hampshire border. Over 300 species of birds have been recorded in the area, which has been identified as one of the ten best birding locations in the country, and it is an important shellfishing resource.

"The whole idea of the grant was to be able to hold this conference, which we are very excited about," commented Robert Buchsbaum of Massachusetts Audubon Society: North Shore. "This action-oriented conference will bring together a whole group of people who will develop a work plan for the future of the Great Marsh. The conference will also connect state and federal officials with those working on the local level so they can help each other to make things happen for the marsh."

Salem Sound 2000 is a coalition of local governments, businesses, nonprofit groups, and citizens from Beverly, Danvers, Manchester, Marblehead, Peabody, and Salem, which is dedicated to working together to protect and enhance Salem Sound as an ecosystem and a regional resource. They received a $4,000 grant to support an education and outreach effort to help make citizens aware of: the bountiful resources found in the Salem Sound region, threats to these resources, and actions they can take to help protect the Sound.

"We are so pleased that the Gulf of Maine Council supported our proposal," expressed Nancy Goodman of Salem Sound 2000. "It will allow us both to raise the profile of Salem Sound 2000 and to educate local citizens about water quality issues."

"I'm delighted to see the Gulf of Maine Council encouraging actions by local nonprofits that directly help the Gulf," commented Peg Brady, Director of the Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Office and member of the Gulf of Maine Council. "Both Mass Audubon North Shore and Salem Sound 2000 have the ideas and energy to make these grants really work for the environment," she continued.

The Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment is an international body brought together to foster cross-border cooperation among government, academic, and private groups. The goal of the Council is to develop and implement a sustainable management strategy for the Gulf, which extends from Nantucket to Cape Sable, Nova Scotia. Public and private representatives from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia oversee the Gulf of Maine Program and its activities in marine monitoring, habitat protection, public education, and pollution prevention. Along with Peg Brady, the Director of Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management, the members of the Gulf of Maine Council from Massachusetts are Trudy Coxe, Secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, and Liz Kay, Vice President of Ecological Solutions, Inc.