With help from Collins, USDA restores funding for the University of Maine System
File photo / University of Maine
The University of Maine System has its flagship campus in Orono, shown here.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will reinstate funding to the University of Maine System, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, announced Wednesday night.
“This USDA funding is critically important not only to the University of Maine, but to our farmers and loggers, as well as to the many people who work in Maine’s agriculture, aquaculture, and forestry industries," Collins said in a written statement. "Now that funding has been restored, the work that the University does in partnership with the many people and communities who depend on these programs can continue.”
This action reverses one taken on Monday when an email from the USDA's financial officer was forwarded to the University of Maine stating that the agency would no longer issue payments or authorize funding releases to the University of Maine System and Columbia University.
The funding freeze would have affected funding for Maine's agriculture, aquaculture and forestry industries. In the fiscal year 2024, the USDA awarded around $30 million to the University of Maine for research that benefited farmers, fishermen, foresters and youth initiatives, including 4-H.
Samantha Warren, a spokesperson for the University of Maine System, told Mainebiz on Wednesday that there are $63 million in active, direct USDA awards to Maine's public universities, almost entirely at the University of Maine.
"The University of Maine System was thrilled to learn from Senator Collins that the USDA has agreed to lift its plan to temporarily pause our federal funding, which has been an unnecessary distraction from our essential education, research and extension activities that benefit Maine and well beyond," said Chancellor Dannel Malloy and University of Maine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy in a joint statement.
"Since our flagship's founding as Maine's land grant 160 years ago, funding from USDA has enabled us to strengthen and grow the state's natural resource economy, sustain rural jobs and communities, and support hands-on 4-H youth development opportunities. To appreciate our incredible impact, one needs to look no further than Maine's iconic wild blueberry industry, which has enjoyed a 500% increase in production over the past five decades because of world-class UMaine research and innovation directly supported by federal and state funding. We're deeply grateful to Senator Collins for this encouraging news and eager to put the whiplash and worry of recent weeks behind us and keep up our good work to move Maine forward."
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect changes on Wednesday.
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