Md. Gets $2 Million In Federal Grants For Wetlands

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Maryland has received nearly $2 million in federal grants to protect and restore wetlands on the Eastern Shore.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the grants on Tuesday.

The Baltimore Sun reports that Point Pleasant Farm in Talbot County, a former National Audubon Society sanctuary at the mouth of the Choptank River, was picked to receive a $1 million grant.

State officials said half was to be spent restoring wetlands flooding meadows and woods and planting water-tolerant trees.

The other half was to be matched with state funds to buy an easement. But the farm's owner, former Anne Arundel County executive Robert A. Pascal, donated the development rights.

A grant of nearly $1 million was awarded to protect 450 acres along the Chicamacomico River in Dorchester County.

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