Maine conservation authorities are going to use more than $450,000 in federal money to protect dozens of acres of coastal wetlands in the southern part of the state.

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has received the grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program.

Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree said the money will help pay for the state’s Cousins River Fields and Marsh Conservation Project, which will protect about 43 acres in the Casco Bay watershed.