WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The Vermont Center for Ecostudies received a grant of more than $440,000 for work to increase loon populations in Vermont following a settlement from a 2003 oil spill off Massachusetts.
It’s one of six projects in New England and New York chosen by state and federal regulators to receive more than $3.5 million in funding to help protect common loons.
The Bouchard B-120 oil spill in 2003 in Buzzards Bay off Massachusetts killed more than 500 loons and resulted in a $13.3 million settlement.
In New Hampshire, The Loon Preservation Committee, based in Moultonborough, was awarded $844,881.
Other projects receiving grants are the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation in New York, as well as projects in Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.