The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) spoke out in opposition to the sudden termination of funding by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) for the Select Area Fisheries Enhancement (SAFE) Program, which helps fund the region’s salmon hatchery programs.
"This decision by BPA caught us by surprise,” ODFW Director Debbie Colbert said in a release. “It puts decades of fishery reform work at risk and goes against the recommendation of the regional fish and wildlife managers and the Northwest Power and Conservation Council to fund this work."
BPA told the government it plans to end its support for SAFE effective 30 September 2026. According to ODFW, BPA’s funding helps place more than 7 million hatchery salmon, most of which will be in the middle of their production cycle close to or during September. Additionally, the withdrawal of funds creates a USD 2.4 million (EUR 2.1 million) funding gap across ODFW, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), and Clatsop County – the three partners overseeing and managing the SAFE Program.
According to Environmental Assessment (EA) Documents, BPA funds three hatchery programs “involved in acclimation, transport, and release of juvenile salmon (spring Chinook and coho smolts), including monitoring and evaluation and Select Area Fisheries Enhancement hatchery facilities and net pen sites (SAFE Facilities) operations and maintenance (O&M).” The SAFE Program was developed in 1993, and BPA has provided decades of funding in comprehensive feasibility studies on suggestion from the Northwest Power Planning Council.
The SAFE Program investigates the ways known-stock terminal fisheries in Youngs Bay and other off-channel areas can be increased across the Columbia River in Oregon and Washington, with the goal of harvesting “strong anadromous hatcher salmonid stocks while minimizing incidental harvest of weak wild salmon stocks.”
"SAFE is a cornerstone program that provides terminal, ocean, and mainstem harvest opportunities, supports living-wage jobs in coastal communities, provides forage for critically endangered southern resident killer whales, and reduces pressure on vulnerable Columbia River stocks,” ODFW Ocean Salmon and Columbia River Program Manager Tucker Jones said in the release. “Pulling funding with almost no notice undermines stability for both fishery managers and commercial and recreational fishers.”
In the release, ODFW said BPA’s lack of funding will cause major disruptions for commercial and recreational fishers who rely on SAFE hatchery fish for predictable and sustainable harvests. ODFW said that in 2025, fish from these fisheries contributed about USD 6 million (EUR 5.2 million) economically to regional fishing communities and about 34 percent of those harvested fish were taken home by recreational anglers in the ocean and lower Columbia River. ODFW said the three-month short notice is not enough time to replace that amount of funding, leaving a significant gap economically, and a risk to reforms set in place that shift commercial harvests away from the mainstem and protect ESA-listed species.
“WDFW was surprised by Bonneville Power Administration’s decision to withdraw funding for the Select Area Fisheries Enhancement (SAFE) Program in the lower Columbia River,” a Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) spokesperson said, according to local news station KOIN 6. “SAFE has played a critical role in providing fishing opportunities, supporting fishing communities, and advancing fishery management strategies designed to protect vulnerable salmon and steelhead stocks.”
This is not the first time the project has faced trouble. In December 2025 and April 2024, Wild Fish Conservancy and The Conservation Angler sued the federal government over the Mitchell Act hatchery operations claiming they were causing a decrease in salmon populations. Those two organizations filed a string of lawsuits dating back to 2016.
In September 2025, U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse (R-Washington) sponsored a bill that would block the federal government from removing four dams on the Lower Snake River. In September 2023, former U.S. President Joe Biden signed a presidential memorandum to prioritize the restoration of fish to the Columbia River Basin with a then USD 20 million (EUR 19 million) investment from BPA.
In December 2025, The Northwest Power and Conservation Council released draft plans in response to conservation concerns with plans to keep the river temperatures cooler and further invest in habitat restoration. One of the biggest changes in that draft plan was implementing a long-term, consistent operation to limit ramping and flow fluctuation on both the Columbia and Snake Rivers to help prevent ponding and cool the water temperature.
BPA announced a new administrator and CEO, Travis Kavulla, in June, slated to start his tenure 29 June 2026. He’s currently working at Base Power, a Texas battery-focused utility company. Prior to that, he worked as vice president of regulatory affairs at NRG, and served on the Montana Public Service Commission, according to a report by local news station KGW8. John Hairston, BPA’s previous CEO, announced his retirement after 35 years in February 2026.
