An agreement between the Biden administration and Native American tribes in the Northwest is a historic step toward restoring salmon runs in the Upper Columbia River Basin and holding the federal government to its word.
The United States has agreed to fund restoration work in the Upper Columbia, with the Bonneville Power Administration providing $200 million over 20 years and the Department of Energy funding $8 million over two years. Scientists will evaluate the ecosystem and ways to help migrating salmon move past dams that stand in their way, including passageways and salmon cannons.
In exchange, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and the Spokane Tribe agreed to pause litigation for those 20 years. That will allow work to move forward unencumbered by costly, contentious and time-consuming legal wrangling.
“It is time for a sustained national effort to restore healthy and abundant native fish populations in the Basin,” read a memorandum released by the administration.
The people of the Northwest long have recognized the need for that effort. We also have recognized the failure of the United States to live up to its promises.
For centuries, the basin’s abundant fish served as sustenance and a defining aspect of the culture for Indigenous people. In 1855, four Northwest tribes signed treaties with the U.S. government that, among other things, reserved the right for tribal members to fish in usual and accustomed places.
But the construction of hydroelectric dams has violated the spirit – and perhaps the letter – of those agreements. Concrete barriers have prevented salmon from returning to their spawning grounds, pools created by the dams have altered historic fishing grounds and 13 salmon and steelhead species have become threatened or endangered.
“For us, if we don’t have a fish in the river, basically we don’t have that treaty right, and it’s the government’s fault for not ensuring that we do,” Aja DeCoteau of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission told Northwest News Network.
To be clear, the dams also have provided benefits. They have contributed clean, reliable, inexpensive electricity that has helped to modernize the region and has been an economic staple. They also have provided flood mitigation and allowed for irrigation that is essential to the Northwest’s farms and ranches.
For decades, tribes have worked to help salmon return in abundance to the Upper Columbia River Basin. So have federal and regional governments. Success has been minimal, with dams and – more recently – climate change leading to diminishing populations of wild fish. The interdependent aspect of the environment can be seen in the fact that those declining numbers have affected orca populations in the Pacific Ocean.
But the announcement from the Biden administration and a sincere eagerness to work with tribes represents a new level of commitment and provides new hope that effective management can make a difference. As Sen. Maria Cantwell said: “This landmark agreement will work to help restore salmon, steelhead, and native resident fish populations using a combination of science, habitat restoration, and engineering efforts.”
It will take decades to assess the effectiveness of the agreement, but the prospects are promising. Helping to restore native salmon and adhering to agreements with Northwest tribes are worthy goals that do, indeed, call for a sustained national effort.
