Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced that she advanced $3,548,000 in Congressionally Directed Spending for the University of Maine (UMaine) Weather Station Network in the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) appropriations bill. The bill, which was officially approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee today, now awaits consideration by the full Senate and House.
“Automated weather stations provide crucial information to producers across Maine,” said Senator Collins. “This funding would support continuous, publicly available measurements of weather and surface properties, including soil moisture, temperature and leaf wetness, which will benefit Maine agriculture and forestry stakeholders. As the Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, I will continue to advocate for this funding as the appropriations process moves forward.”
“Farming and forestry are vital Maine industries in which operational decisions and harvest outcomes are highly dependent on weather and climate,” said University of Maine Cooperative Extension Wild Blueberry Specialist Lily Calderwood and Assistant Extension Professor and Maine State Climatologist Sean Birkel. “This federal funding would allow UMaine to launch a new statewide system of weather stations to provide farmers, foresters, and other stakeholders with high-quality data about real-time atmospheric, surface, and soil conditions with the aim of increasing efficiency and production.”
This investment would allow UMaine to develop “Maine Mesonet” — a network of collectively operated weather stations, with at least one station in each of Maine’s 16 counties, which are connected to the National Mesonet Program. These stations would be equipped to enhance weather prediction and climate monitoring capabilities for Maine farmers and forestry stakeholders across the state.
This funding advanced through the Committee’s markup of the FY24 CJS appropriations bill — an important step that now allows the bill to be considered by the full Senate. Committee consideration of legislation is a key part of regular order, which helps our government function efficiently and deliver results for the people of Maine and America.
In 2021, Congress reinstituted Congressionally Directed Spending. Following this decision, Senator Collins has secured more than $500 million for hundreds of Maine projects for FY2022 and FY2023. As the Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Collins is committed to championing targeted investments that will benefit Maine communities.
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