PORTLAND – The federal government is listing wild Atlantic salmon as endangered in three of Maine’s largest rivers while designating thousands of miles of rivers and lakes as critical habitat for one of America’s premier game fish.

Officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday that additional protections are needed to help the fish populations recover. The new rules, which go into effect in mid-July, make it illegal to take salmon from the rivers and could force dam owners to build additional fish passages.

“It used to be the case that Atlantic salmon thrived in Maine’s rivers. Legend had it that you could walk across these rivers on the backs of salmon,” said Marvin Moriarty, regional director for the Fish & Wildlife Service. “Unfortunately, the Atlantic salmon is now on the brink of extinction.”

Gov. John Baldacci issued a statement opposing the decision to list salmon populations as endangered in the Penobscot, Kennebec and Androscoggin rivers and their tributaries. Eight smaller rivers were placed on the list in 2000.

Baldacci said the listing “hamstrings” the state’s use of creative conservation efforts he said have succeeded in the past.

“I intend to work with Maine’s congressional delegation and others to explore options available to the state, including legal actions,” he said.

Pat Keliher, director of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat at the Maine Department of Marine Resources, state officials wanted the federal government to list salmon as threatened, not endangered, to give them more leeway in coming up with rules to save the fish.

“It’s not the Endangered Species Act that will recover Atlantic salmon. It’s cooperation amongst the parties,” Keliher said.

The Atlantic Salmon Federation also felt the threatened status was the best route because it would have involved anglers in the process. But the organization will support the federal government’s decision, said Andrew Goode, vice president of US programs.

“Now is the time to move on and continue the progress already being made on the Kennebec and Penobscot Rivers to restore Atlantic salmon,” Goode said.

The rules designate about 12,000 miles of rivers and streams and about 300 square miles of lakes as “critical habitat” for the salmon in Maine. The critical habitat designation means that officials will look closely at activities in the designated salmon habitat area, including hydropower, development, forestry, transportation, agriculture, mining and aquaculture.

The habitat designation would affect development and construction projects that use federal funding, require federal permits or are being done by the federal government, said Mary Colligan, NOAA’s assistant regional administrator for protected resources.

An economic analysis estimates that the annual cost of the critical habitat designation will be more than $12 million.

About $8.9 million of the total would be from what Colligan called the “lost cost of development” for projects that could not take place because of restrictions due to the designation. About $2.9 million would come in additional costs to modify existing dams, including installing fish ladders and dams, she said.

Efforts have been under way for years to restore populations of Atlantic salmon to Maine’s rivers, but have fallen short.

In 2008, about 2,300 adult fish returned to spawn in Maine rivers. Although that represents an increase over recent years, it is still less than 10 percent of what is needed to return for the populations to be considered to be in good condition, Colligan said.

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