Trump ends Columbia River salmon deal, halting dam removal and energy transition plans
The Trump administration has withdrawn from a Biden-era agreement to restore salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest, ending plans to remove four dams and invest in tribal-led renewable energy.
Tony Schick reports for Oregon Public Broadcasting in partnership with ProPublica.
In short:
- The Biden administration’s 2023 deal with Northwest tribes sought to halt decades of litigation by pledging billions for clean energy and promising to consider removing four Snake River dams to help salmon recovery.
- President Trump canceled the agreement, calling it an overreach, and reversed key initiatives, including funding for hatcheries, energy projects, and dam removal studies.
- Federal agencies are now likely to face renewed lawsuits, while tribal and environmental leaders warn the move could push wild salmon closer to extinction.
Key quote:
“This termination will severely disrupt vital fisheries restoration efforts, eliminate certainty for hydro operations, and likely result in increased energy costs and regional instability.”
— Gerald Lewis, Yakama Nation Tribal Council chair
Why this matters:
The Columbia and Snake rivers once teemed with wild salmon, a vital resource for Native tribes and ecosystems. But dam construction over the past century severely cut salmon numbers by blocking migratory routes and altering water flows. Today, many salmon populations in the region teeter on the edge of extinction, with entire fisheries relying on aging hatcheries to maintain fragile stocks. The abandoned agreement aimed to replace the energy from the four most problematic dams with tribally led renewable alternatives — an attempt to align energy policy with ecological and treaty obligations. Walking away from that effort not only strains the federal government's relationships with tribes, but also risks worsening biodiversity loss and undermines efforts to transition the Northwest to cleaner, more resilient energy systems.
Related: Trump administration halts Columbia River Treaty talks, raising tensions with Canada
