A federal appeals court has lifted an injunction that bars Central Maine Power from clearing trees in part of its planned transmission corridor to Canada.
Project opponents had won a temporary injunction on work in a 53-mile section of the corridor that stretches from Jackman to The Forks.
The Natural Resources Council of Maine and other groups asked for the hold pending the outcome of their case that federal environmental permits should be invalidated.
NRCM's senior scientist, Nick Bennet, says the decision is a disappointment but opponents are far from giving up.
"We will continue to pursue this case on the merits in federal district court. And we will continue to purse the case in state court against CMP's illegal lease across public lands, and our appeal of the state permit to the Board of Environmental Protection," he says.
Most of the 141-mile project follows existing corridors. But the northern most segment will require cutting an entirely new path.
The high-voltage line would bring electricity from Canada's Hydro-Quebec dams into the regional grid, to serve contracts with Massachusetts utilities.
In a statement, CMP's top executive on the project, Thorn Dickinson, calls the decision "a victory for Maine's clean energy future."