In a presidential memorandum, Trump withdraws the US from the Columbia River salmon recovery agreement, which aims to restore salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest. The Biden administration mediated the deal with Washington, Oregon, and four Native American tribes in late 2023, which Trump referred to as “radical environmentalism.” The ruling puts energy infrastructure ahead of what Trump called “speculative climate change concerns,” halting federal attempts to create sustainable energy for tribes and restore salmon populations. Democratic leaders, conservationists, and tribes have sharply criticized this action, claiming it exacerbates the degradation of a once-thriving ecosystem and undercuts decades of progress.

Undoing a Historic Agreement

Decades of litigation over the environmental effects of federal dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers were put on hold by the historic Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement. In addition to planning clean energy projects that could potentially replace hydropower from the Lower Snake River dams—Ice Harbour, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, and Lower Granite—if Congress approved their removal, the agreement committed the government to investing more than $1 billion over ten years to restore depleted salmon populations. With 16 salmon and steelhead stocks, the Columbia River Basin, which covers an area the size of Texas, was once the best salmon-producing river system in the world. These days, seven are endangered, four are extinct, and orcas that rely on salmon are also in danger. Trump’s action nullified the deal, which attempted to balance ecological restoration and the region’s energy demands.

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Ecological and Cultural Impacts

The pullout will significantly impact both the ecosystem and the Northwest’s tribes. Since the construction of dams like Grand Coulee and Bonneville in the 1930s, tribes have expressed worry that the dams, especially the four on the Snake River, are to blame for the reduction of salmon because they prevent access to upstream spawning sites. The tribes viewed salmon as essential to their culture and way of life and reserved the right to fish in 19th-century treaties. Yakama Tribal Council chair Gerald Lewis denounced the decision as part of the government’s “historic pattern of broken promises to tribes.” Conservationists agree, pointing out that fisheries specialists believe the best chance for salmon recovery is to breach the dams on the Snake River. The action further destabilizes the ecosystem in the area by further endangering the endangered orcas that depend on salmon.

Tribes and organizations like Earthjustice responded by vowing to keep fighting for the rehabilitation of salmon. Trump withdraws US from Columbia River salmon recovery agreement and the move, according to Democratic Senator Patty Murray, is “grievously wrong” because it ignores the Northwest’s way of life and the agreement’s balanced approach to stable dam operations and salmon recovery.

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