HARRISON – The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has denied a permit for a preservation group seeking to restore a sawmill on the Crooked River.

The DEP determined that Scribner’s Mill Preservation Inc. did not meet the requirements for a permit to do work on the river related to the mill’s restoration. The department states in the 21-page decision that the work would adversely affect the migration of landlocked Atlantic salmon.

Scribner’s Mill Preservation was founded in 1975 to preserve the mill, which was built around 1847 and operated until 1962. The mill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, but removed the next year after it partially collapsed due to high water conditions.

The nonprofit group aims to restore the mill to a working condition to produce wood products for the restoration market and provide education. The proposed work included the reconstruction of a breached portion of dam with a rock ramp fishway with a 2.6 percent slope, as well as wooden water wheels and penstocks.

The project was first proposed in late 2002, but later put on hold to allow for the completion of studies of the fish habitat. The DEP issued a draft order opposing the construction in October, for reasons similar to those in the final order.

Scribner’s Mill is located 21 miles up the 50-mile-long Crooked River from Sebago Lake, and is the primary tributary for spawning salmon. An estimated 65 percent of spawning occurs upriver from the mill.

According to the DEP, juvenile salmon can currently pass 45 percent of the river flows between 25 cubic feet per second and 650 cubic feet per second. Adult salmon can pass all such flows.

According to the order, the fishway proposed for Scribner’s Mill would reduce juvenile passage to 16 percent of river flows and adult passage to 98 percent. Dana Murch, dams and hydropower supervisor for the DEP, said juveniles typically swim downstream to the lake after being spawned upriver, but swim upstream as well.

“The adults are on a spawning run. The juveniles are just moving around,” Murch said.

The decision also expresses concern that the project would alter the river environment and provide a better habitat for warm water species that prey on juvenile salmon. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has said the project would reduce salmon production in the river by at least 4.1 percent.

The preservation group opposes these arguments on its Web site, claiming that the proposed fishway offers improved passage and that salmon are capable of competing with warm water fish. Scott Hatch, director of operations for the group, has previously said that there are only 25 sash saws in operation in the world and the site has the potential to host a world-class museum.

Several environmental and fishing groups have opposed the project, along with the Portland Water District. The district, which serves approximately 200,000 customers from Sebago Lake, expressed concern that the project might affect the water quality.

The order states there are “feasible alternatives” to the dam and fishway, including using water delivered via penstock from upstream or from a water tower. Francis Brautigam, regional fisheries biologist for the DIFW, said he was pleased with the project’s denial but more supportive of the alternatives.

“Most of the other alternatives . . . all focused on solutions outside the river channel,” said Brautigam.

The preservation group has expressed skepticism for the alternative methods. It may appeal the decision to the Board of Environmental Protection or the Maine Superior Court.

Crooked River is listed as Class AA, which requires free-flowing water and protective water quality standards. However, it is listed as Class A at Scribner’s Mill and existing impoundments such as Bolsters Mills, allowing for construction on the river at those points.

Susan Davies, water quality standards coordinator with the DEP, said the Board of Environmental Protection recommended last month that the river portion at Scribner’s Mill should be reclassified Class AA, which would preclude the fishway project. The Legislature will make a final decision on the classification.