![]() (Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice) A turning point in the fight Sun sets on a dammed section of the Snake River in between Lower Granite dam and Lewiston, ID near Chief Timothy Park. The Nez Perce Tribe and state of Oregon are also aligned with these groups. A long fight: Earthjustice’s clients in decades-long litigation to compel dam removal include National Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club, National Sportfishing Industry Association, Northwest Energy Coalition, Idaho Conservation League, Idaho Rivers United, Columbia Riverkeeper, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, Institute for Fisheries Resources, and Fly Fishers International.The government’s duty: By failing to remove the dams, the government is violating these obligations.This status requires the federal government to take certain actions to protect the fish. Endangered Species Act obligations: Nearly all the salmon in the Columbia basin are listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act.Binding treaties: When each of the four Columbia River Basin Tribes signed treaties with the United States in 1855, they explicitly reserved their right to fish in perpetuity while ceding significant portions of their traditional territory to the government.The loss of salmon is unacceptable to all of us, and especially to the Tribal Nations whose culture, traditions, and ways of life depend on them. A loss we can’t afford: Salmon are critical to Pacific Northwest ways of life, economies, and ecosystems.The power of the law requires the federal government to protect the salmon Science-backed solution: Science is clear that removal of the four lower Snake River dams - Ice Harbor, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, Lower Granite - is the single best thing we can do to save salmon from extinction and restore their populations to abundance.The problem: Four dams in Washington block salmon passage along the lower Snake River, which is a major migration route linking habitat in central Idaho to the Columbia River and out to the Pacific Ocean.It is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, once among the greatest salmon-producing river systems on Earth. The river flows through Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. No time to waste: If we don’t act now, the remaining salmon in the Snake River face extinction.Time is running out for salmon in the Snake River While Biden’s memo doesn’t explicitly call for the removal of the four Lower Snake River dams, removing the dams and replacing the services they provide is the approach we need to prevent extinction and eventually restore salmon to abundance. This litigation is now on hold while stakeholders negotiate a plan to protect the salmon.īiden’s order is a promising sign that his administration will honor Tribal treaty rights and uphold environmental laws aimed at preventing species extinction. For more than 25 years, conservation and fishing groups represented by Earthjustice have been litigating alongside Tribes to bring about the breaching of the dams. Why It Matters: Scientists have been clear: The remedy for plummeting salmon populations must include the removal of four federal dams on the Snake River that are pushing the fish towards extinction. What Happened: In a memo issued in late September, President Biden ordered federal agencies to do everything in their power to restore wild salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia and Snake rivers of the Pacific Northwest.
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