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"We're delighted, obviously," said Judith Benedict, director of land protection for The Nature Conservancy. ". . . It will mean we'll be able to protect more land along the south shore."

Eklof Marine Corp., owner of the North Cape barge that ran aground off Moonstone Beach in January 1996, agreed yesterday to pay $8.5 million in fines and conservation payments as part of a plea-agreement in admitting criminal liablity. That includes the $1.5 million for The Nature Conservancy to buy conservation land in the area hardest hit by the spill.

Virginia Lee, manager of U.S. Programs for the Coastal Resources Center at the University of Rhode Island and a member of South Kingstown's Land Trust, lauded the decision to have Eklof make a direct contribution to The Nature Conservancy. "It is unusual, very unusual, but quite forward-thinking - both for the government and the responsible party," she said.

Benedict said her agency doesn't have any immediate plan for spending the money. She noted that The Nature Conservancy has been working with the federal Fish and Wildlife Service, the state Department of Environmental Management and communities in South County "to identify the highest priorities for protection." The areas are outlined in the South Shore Management Plan.

Charles Hebert, refuge manager for the Fish and Wildlife Service, said the next step would be to determine which properties to seek to buy.

Top on the list, he said, will be certain properties that are under development or slated for development in areas that could affect the wetlands or wildlife.

"In an ideal world, you'd want to buy everything that's not developed" - especially undeveloped parcels "that have significant wildlife value, habitat value and significant ecological value."

Hebert declined to identify any of the potential purchases, saying some property owners don't even know their property is being targeted for possible purchase as conservation land.

Hebert said he wasn't sure how much land they would be able to buy. "The $1.5 million is not going to get us tremendous acreage in South County anymore," he said. "But it will buy us some properties."

Lee said the money is "just a drop in the bucket - but it's a big help."

Looking at the most recent purchases, Hebert said, the agencies have spent about $10,000 an acre to buy about 150 acres of protected land. But much of that came from "willing sellers" as opposed to typical "asking" prices in that area, he said.

"There are really a lot of things that have to be considered" in determining the price of a piece of property, he said.A key factor is size: "The smaller the parcels, the higher the costs per acre for that parcel."

Hebert said his agency's most recent purchase was last year, when it bought about 110 acres on Point Judith Pond for $430,000. But that price per acre was lower than usual, he said, because much of the land was wetland that would not have been easily developed.

Hebert also noted that "land acquisition" doesn't have to mean an outright purchase of property, but can involve conservation easements in proposed developments and other deals to protect the land and wetlands.