After years of legal wrangling, Maine is finally ending its opposition to the federal government’s decision to list the wild Atlantic salmon as endangered in several of the state’s rivers. Gov. John Baldacci (D) announced yesterday that the state had come to an agreement with the feds and would not appeal a recent court decision in which a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the state and Maine business groups to block the listing. The salmon has been listed as endangered in eight Maine rivers since November 2000, but the listing has been dogged by legal challenges. Opponents said the fish were not sufficiently genetically distinct from other salmon to merit listing and claimed that protecting the fish would harm the state’s economy.
