U.S. President Donald Trump has withdrawn the federal government from a salmon restoration deal with Tribes in the Pacific Northwest region, marking the latest development in the president’s efforts to undo his predecessor’s legacy on salmon restoration in the region.
“We are dismayed that an agreement that was among the best roadmaps charted for helping Columbia Basin salmon – representing years of work by Tribes, states, and the federal government – was undone with the stroke of a pen,” Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission Chair Jeremy Takala said in a statement. “This action, done without consultation with the Tribes, dismantles what should have been celebrated as a historic achievement. If you love salmon, steelhead, sturgeon, and lamprey, the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement was a groundbreaking commitment that provided critical funding for Tribal and other hatcheries, habitat restoration, predation management, infrastructure upgrades, and support for energy projects that would be less burdensome on the environment and Tribal cultural resources.”
Former U.S. President Joe Biden had made salmon restoration – especially in the Columbia River Basin – a priority during his administration, investing in recovery efforts for the species. In 2023, Biden signed an agreement with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, and the Spokane Tribe of Indians to reintroduce salmon in the Upper Columbia River Basin.
Shortly after that, Biden issued a memorandum titled “Restoring Healthy and Abundant Salmon, Steelhead, and Other Native Fish Populations in the Columbia River Basin,” which directed the federal government to utilize its resources to help wild salmon populations in the basin recover and support the treaty rights of Tribes.
Then, in December 2023, in response to litigation, the Biden administration signed a deal with four Lower Columbia Basin Tribes and the state governments of Oregon and Washington to provide financial support for Tribe-owned energy projects that could replace power generated by four Lower Snake River dams. While the Biden administration claimed that it was not explicitly calling for those dams to be removed, opponents claimed dam removal was an implicit part of the president’s policy.
Comments at the time suggested participants in the deal intended to see the dams removed.
“The federal dams on the Lower Snake and mainstem Columbia rivers have had – and continue to have – devastating impacts on the salmon and our people, burdening our Treaty partnership,” Nez Perce Tribe Chairman Shannon F. Wheeler said in a White House press release announcing the deal in 2023. “So today, as Six Sovereigns joining together with the United States to advance salmon restoration throughout the Basin – including preparation for breach of the four Lower Snake River dams – we are also witnessing the restoration of Tribal Treaties to their rightful place under the rule of law.”
U.S. lawmakers in Congress have then attempted to reverse the deal, with legislators introducing a package of bills blocking dam removals and undoing Biden’s policy. While those bills have not progressed since, Trump’s latest action may make them unnecessary.
In a 12 June 2025 memo, Trump ...
