Sappi Fine Paper North America will not appeal a decision from the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife requiring the company to build a fish passageway on the Cumberland Mills Dam, according to a company spokeswoman.

The decision from Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Commissioner Roland Martin, made Monday, comes after a process that began years ago, in which several conservation groups urged the state to require Sappi to build the passageways in order restore populations of migratory fish.

That process came to a halt two years ago, when Sappi agreed to remove the dam as part of a deal with the conservation groups. However, a year ago, Sappi pulled out of the deal, and the groups – Friends of the Presumpscot River, American Rivers, the Maine Department of Marine Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – renewed their effort to get the state to force the company to provide fish passage.

“It’s been a long, hard fight, and we are so grateful for this decision,” said Dusti Faucher, president of Friends of the Presumpscot River.

Douglas Watts, executive officer of Friends of Sebago Lake, said the ruling isn’t only good news for the health of the river, but for the eventual restoration of Sebago Lake, as well.

“We’re ecstatic about this,” said Watts.

According to Deborah Turcotte, spokeswoman for the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, the next step will be for the department to figure out what type of fish passage Sappi will be required to install. She said a timeline for that process has not yet been set, but the paper company says it will construct what the state requires.

“Sappi Fine Paper North America is looking forward to working with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife on the next stage of the process, which will determine the requirements to build a fishway at the Cumberland Mills Dam,” said Donna Cassese, manager of the Westbrook mill. “Once these details have been determined, Sappi will proceed accordingly.”

Faucher said having fish passage at the Cumberland Mills Dam is “the key that unlocks the rest of the river.”

In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld conditions in federal licenses that require the mill to maintain fish passages at its other dams. The Cumberland Mills dam is not regulated by a federal license, however, because it does not produce power. Therefore, the Supreme Court decision did not apply to that dam.

Furthermore, in the Supreme Court ruling, Sappi is not forced to install the fish passageways on the other dams until a passage is installed at the Cumberland Mills Dam, because it is the first dam on the river migratory fish meet, preventing them from even reaching the others – which is why this ruling was so crucial.

Faucher said it would take time to rebuild the river’s habitat, but she sees a complete restoration of the species of fish and animals that used to live in and along the river. And eventually, she said, it will be the people of Maine, through recreation and tourism, who will benefit from that restoration.

The dam, and other dams farther upstream, prevents the sea-run species of fish from traveling from the ocean to fresh bodies of water to spawn. Sea-run fish native to the Presumpscot River are blueback herring, alewife, shad and Atlantic salmon.

Many of the dams previously had fish passageways installed in them, but after years of neglect and aging they were no longer operational, according to Faucher. They 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, she said.

In his decision, Martin said further proceedings will determine requirements for the design and operation of the fish passageways, including where and how many there should be.

The Cumberland Mills dam is the first one migratory fish meet swimming upstream in the Presumpscot.