Pact lets fish coexist with Maine dams

OLD TOWN, Maine, June 25 (UPI) -- A final agreement was signed Friday on a plan to restore migratory fisheries on Maine's Penobscot River while maintaining hydroelectric production.

Gov. John Baldacci and Interior Secretary Gale Norton were among the VIPS taking part in the signing of what environmentalists called one of the most significant river restoration projects in the nation.

The plan calls for the removal of two dams on the lower Penobscot to accommodate salmon and other fish species while at the same time boosting power production at six remaining dams upriver in order to maintain 90 percent of current generation.

At the same time, fish passages around remaining dams will be improved so that the fish can get to their spawning grounds.

The plan was filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Friday.