A fight over returning migratory fish to the Presumpscot River has come to a head over the Cumberland Mills Dam in Westbrook.

The dam is now the first on the river to be reached by migratory fish, and so holds the key to the rest of the river, which historically was a spawning area for many migratory fish but has been mostly blocked for the last 200 years.

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has initiated proceedings to decide whether Sappi Fine Paper should be forced to install fish passage on the Cumberland Mills Dam, beginning with a public hearing to be held some time in the summer.

According to Andrea Erskine, who is coordinating the review process, this is the first time the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has held a public hearing to dispute fish passage, although the state law governing dams on inland waterways dates back to the 1800s.

By law, the state can require any company to install a fish passage on an inland waterway. However, Sappi asserts that it would not be able to afford the installation, which could cost millions of dollars and jeopardize the company’s operations in Westbrook.

“Our goal is to work with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and other interested groups to come up with the best possible solution for all parties involved that will also protect the mill in Westbrook, including employees’ jobs, from any severe economic impact that might result from a forced mandate,” Sappi spokeswoman Brooke Carey said via e-mail.

Sappi fought the state in court last year over whether the state has the right to force it to install fish passages. The court battle went as far as the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in May 2006 that states have the right to regulate their inland waterways.

The Friends of the Presumpscot River, a Maine-based conservation group, and American Rivers, a Washington, D.C.-based organization, subsequently requested that the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, which has regulatory control over any decision, force Sappi to put fish passage on the Cumberland Mills Dam.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Marine Resources and the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission sent letters urging the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to make a decision on the dam.

“This river has been used and abused for a couple hundred years,” said Dusti Faucher of Windham, president of Friends of the Presumpscot River. “It’s time the businesses that use the river for profits should restore it – and that means providing fish passage.”

According to Faucher, at one time, S.D. Warren included fish passages in its dams on the river, which stretches 25 miles from its start at Sebago Lake to its mouth at Casco Bay. The fish passages allowed the migration of such species as Atlantic salmon, American shad, alewives and blueback herring. The fish passages, installed in the 1880s, were eroded by the 1930s, said Faucher, and were never replaced because the river was considered too polluted for fish migration.

However, in recent years the quality of the river has improved to the point where fish would be able to use it again, said Faucher. Bringing back the fish populations upstream would result in the return of a host of other animals and birds, such as eagles and osprey.

“It’s a resurgence of all the natural systems in the river when you bring back these fish,” she said.

Laura Wildman, director of river science for the American Rivers conservation group, said restoring the river could improve the quality of life in the communities it passes through. By providing recreation such as fishing and boating and a return of wildlife, restoring the river could also attract new businesses and increase property values along the river, which she said occurred along the Kennebec River after removal of Edwards Dam in the 1990s.

The Presumpscot is the only river in Maine without fish passage on its first dam, according to Faucher. In October 2002, the Smelt Hill Dam in Falmouth was removed, allowing several species of fish to migrate farther up the river and making the Cumberland Mills Dam the first dam on the river migratory fish meet.

Sappi controls five other hydro-power dams up the river, which the Maine Department of Environmental Protection has said would have to include fish passage should fish reach beyond the Cumberland Mills Dam, according to Dana Murch, a dam and hydro-electric specialist for the department.

Those five dams provide hydro power and are regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said Murch. Because the Cumberland Mills Dam does not provide hydro power, it is not regulated by the federal government. However, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last May empowers the state to regulate it.

According to Faucher, Sappi owns seven dams in all but would only have to provide fish passage on two of them – Cumberland Mills and Saccarappa – over the next five or so years. As the fish population gradually establish breeding grounds up the river, which she said could take years, the company potentially would have to provide fish passage on four other dams.

In response to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s decision to look into the construction of fishways, Sappi requested a public hearing, which the company said the department granted in early January.

According to Murch, that public hearing would most likely take place sometime in the summer. In the meantime, interested parties have until March 23 to apply for intervener status by sending an e-mail to andrea.erskine@maine.gov. That deadline will be followed by a pre-hearing conference some time in April and then a public hearing.