Plaintiffs Seek Emergency Actions to Protect Imperiled Columbia Basin Salmon

Conservation, fishing, and clean energy groups represented by Earthjustice filed a preliminary injunction request today with a federal court in Oregon seeking emergency measures to protect endangered salmon and steelhead from harms caused by lower Snake and Columbia River dam operations. The State of Oregon filed a similar request today, while the Nez Perce Tribe and the State of Washington plan to file soon as amici parties (friends of the court) in support of the requested relief.

The requested operational changes are science-based measures recommended by state and tribal fishery managers that change operations of the current Columbia Basin hydropower system to improve salmon survival as they migrate past dams and reservoirs in the Columbia and Snake Rivers. These changes include increased “spill,” which allows juvenile fish to pass over the dams instead of through lethal turbines, and lowered reservoir elevations, which decreases the time salmon spend migrating through stagnant, overheated waters.

The groups and Oregon are also requesting a set of emergency conservation measures for some of the most imperiled populations that are on the brink of collapse. These include removing passage barriers slowing the migration of Tucannon River spring Chinook, a population that is rapidly approaching extinction, as well as increasing federal efforts to control predators like invasive walleye and some birds that prey on salmon and steelhead.

The return to court became necessary after the Trump administration in June unilaterally and abruptly ended the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement. That historic agreement, signed in December 2023, committed federal agencies to begin implementing a long-term plan to restore imperiled native fisheries to healthy abundance while investing $1 billion over a decade in the region. Those investments were aimed at improving fish habitat, building new sources of reliable and affordable clean energy, modernizing regional infrastructure and planning for the eventual removal of dams on the lower Snake River that continue to thwart salmon and steelhead recovery.

“When the Trump administration reneged on this carefully negotiated agreement — and offered no alternative plan to restore imperiled salmon and steelhead — we had no option but to resume our longstanding litigation to protect endangered salmon,” said Earthjustice Attorney Amanda Goodin. “The motion we filed today requests the court to order federal agencies to take the most important, immediate, and reasonable steps that are possible within the Columbia Basin’s current hydropower operating system to ensure our Northwest salmon don’t go extinct.”

“Fish biologists say Snake River salmon are running out of time. Oregon, Washington, and four Tribes came up with a good plan to save them, but the federal government threw it out, so returning to court is the best tool we have left to prevent the collapse of these imperiled fish populations,” said Mike Leahy, senior director of wildlife, hunting and fishing policy for the National Wildlife Federation. “Salmon are central to the people, wildlife, and ecosystem of the Northwest, and they are a national treasure. The federal government should be helping the Tribes and the states restore Snake River salmon for the generations to come.”

“The wild salmon and steelhead of the Columbia Basin that are essential to Tribal cultures and our Northwest heritage are in dire straits,” said Club Snake/Columbia River Salmon Campaign Director Bill Arthur. “The Columbia Basin Agreement that provided a path to recovery was terminated by the Trump administration in June with support from some short-sighted power and agricultural interests. The stagnant, hot water reservoirs created by the dams on the lower Snake River continue to drive these fish toward extinction. Because there is no longer an effective plan in place to prevent extinction, we must return to court to secure badly needed improvements to hydropower operations to protect these iconic runs. We can and must do more to avoid extinction and restore healthy salmon runs while making investments to assure reliable energy.”

“For those paying attention, the science and reality that Columbia and Snake River salmon and steelhead populations face is abundantly clear,” said Idaho Rivers United Conservation Director Nick Kunath. “They are headed for extinction. It is past time to provide immediate and decisive actions that these iconic keystone species so desperately need and overwhelmingly deserve and that are reflected in the relief that we are seeking. It’s time we listen to the advice that fisheries managers and scientists have been sharing for decades before it’s too late.”

“The spiraling declines of wild Snake River salmon and steelhead strangle most all fisheries from Canada back to the Snake Basin, especially in river sport and Tribal fisheries,” said Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association Policy Director Liz Hamilton. “The requested emergency measures will benefit the baby salmon leaving the river next year and provide hope for those whose livelihoods and culture depend on their success. These measures help keep fish in the game while we continue our work with others in the region on a comprehensive solution.”

“The Trump administration’s decision to abandon the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement without any alternative plan is a serious setback for salmon, orcas, Tribes, and communities across the Northwest,” said Idaho Conservation League Salmon Program Senior Associate Abbie Abramovich. “Walking away from it pushes already fragile salmon populations closer to extinction and continues a troubling legacy of the federal government not upholding promises to Tribes. We must do everything we can in the meantime to avoid detrimental setbacks for fish while investing in solutions for the region.”

“The Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement represented a win-win for salmon and clean energy,” said NW Energy Coalition Regional and State Policy Director Zachariah Baker. “With the administration’s withdrawal from the agreement, immediate action is needed to support salmon recovery while the region continues to collaborate on the comprehensive, strategic solutions envisioned in the agreement, including how to ensure abundant, affordable, and reliable clean energy across the Northwest.”

Background

Earthjustice has represented conservation, fishing, and renewable energy groups, who have fought alongside the Nez Perce Tribe, other Columbia Basin Tribes, and the State of Oregon, in successful court battles for more than 30 years to protect threatened and endangered salmon in the Columbia River Basin. These groups are the National Wildlife Federation, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, Institute for Fisheries Resources, Sierra Club, Idaho Rivers United, Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, NW Energy Coalition, Columbia Riverkeeper, Idaho Conservation League and Fly Fishers International, Inc.

The changes requested to hydropower operations in today’s preliminary injunction request would affect the following lower Snake and lower Columbia River dams: Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, Lower Granite, Bonneville, The Dalles, John Day, and McNary.

Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead, particularly those that return to the Snake River to spawn, persist at dangerously low abundance and many continue to decline toward extinction. Of the 16 salmon and steelhead stocks that historically return to spawn above Bonneville Dam, four are extinct, and seven more are listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as endangered or threatened, including all that return to the Snake River. For most of these ESA-listed salmon species, by far the largest threat in their freshwater life stage is the harm caused by federal dams. These dams kill and harm salmon as they attempt to migrate past each dam and by transforming the river into a series of slack water, warm reservoirs.

The Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, which stemmed from mediation efforts with the federal government, was based on a comprehensive salmon recovery plan developed by the states of Washington and Oregon and four lower Columbia River Treaty Tribes — the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon. That plan is called the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative; the states and tribes have stated they remain committed to the plan, despite the Trump administration reneging on the agreement that was intended to begin implementing and funding it.