Biden Administration and Senator Murray & Governor Inslee Move Snake River Salmon Protection Forward

October 27, 2021

Orca

By Bill Arthur, Chair, Snake/Columbia River Salmon Campaign and Alex Craven, Senior Campaign Representative

On October 21 and 22, our campaign to restore the Snake River celebrated two major milestones. This is amazing news for those who cherish and rely on the Snake River– including Tribes, salmon and orca, local communities, and all who care about protecting this amazing part of our heritage.

First, Senator Murray (WA) and Governor Inslee (WA) issued a statement on October 22 that covered next steps for a joint federal-state process on salmon recovery in the Columbia River Basin and the Pacific Northwest.

This is a first for elected leaders in Washington State. Sen. Murray and Gov. Inslee intend to conclude their stakeholder engagement and consultation with the tribes, and release their recommendations and plan of action no later than July 31, 2022. This initiative will analyze the replacement of services provided by the lower Snake River dams. In their joint statement they said,

“Saving our salmon is absolutely essential to Washington’s state’s economy and cultural heritage – it is an urgent undertaking that we are fully committed to. In May, we called for a regional process that ensures all voices in the region are heard and takes all options into consideration, including potential breaching of the Lower Snake River Dams...Today we are announcing a joint federal state process to determine whether there are reasonable means to replacing the benefits provided by the Lower Snake River Dams, sufficient to support breach as part of a salmon recovery strategy for the Snake River and the Pacific Northwest. We approach this question with open minds and without a predetermined decision.”

We agree with their focus and approach. We are confident that there are reasonable, reliable, and affordable options for replacing these services. It is significant to have the Senior senator call the question and lead this initiative.

Second, the litigation against the Federal Agencies' Biological Opinion and the Columbia Power System operation has been stayed until July, 31 2022. Plaintiffs - including the State of Oregon, the Nez Perce Tribe, Sierra Club & other conservation NGOS -- filed litigation over the Trump era plan in 2020, along with a request for preliminary injunction in July this year. We reached a temporary agreement with federal agencies and the Biden Administration to pause court proceedings. This is good news because we have secured better river conditions for the salmon next year and a commitment to developing a comprehensive solution that recovers these endangered fish.

As part of the agreement, 2022 river operations will improve relative to this year's operation, with more spill over the dams on the lower Snake River dams and lower Columbia River dams. The Biden Administration importantly also committed to work with plaintiffs to see if we can reach agreement on a comprehensive plan for recovering Snake River salmon.

Removing the four lower Snake River dams will be an active part of this discussion as well. This correlates with the first announcement: if a favorable decision of dam removal is reached in these discussions, the issues in the case will have been resolved. Moreover, the Biden Administration is now involved and - for the first time in 25 years of litigation - senior representatives from the key agencies in Washington D. C. are part of discussions on river restoration. Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, said in their announcement,

“The Columbia River System is an invaluable natural resource that is critical to many stakeholders in the Basin. Today's filing represents an important opportunity to prioritize the resolution of more than 20 years of litigation and identify creative solutions that improve conditions for salmon for years to come. White it is important to balance the region’s economy and power generation, it is also time to improve conditions for Tribes that have relied on these important species since time immemorial.”

These two announcements provide a unique opportunity to forge a comprehensive solution to restore the Snake River, its salmon, and meet treaty right responsibilities. We are at a significant inflection point where senior leaders from all three Northwest states - Senator Murray and Gov. Inslee (WA), Rep. Simpson (ID), and Governor Brown and Rep. Blumenauer (OR) are all committed to securing a comprehensive solution, and that dam removal is either supported by them (Simpson, Blumenauer, Brown) or actively being considered. And, we have an engaged Biden Administration that sees this issue as important for meeting treaty right responsibilities, restoring natural resources, and making investments in clean energy. We're in a new zone of opportunity; Removing these four dams would be the largest river and salmon restoration effort ever undertaken.

Take Action

The Murray/Inslee initiative and the Biden administration engagement move us into a key period over the next 8 months to determine the fate of the wild salmon of the Snake River. Please take a moment to call both Senator Murray and Governor Inslee. Thank them for moving the federal-state solution initiative forward. And urge them to:

Center the Tribes in the leadership of this effort and assure we honor our treaties.
Reach a decision that includes removing the lower Snake River dams so that dam removal can be authorized in 2022. Congress must be able to act next year to advance the comprehensive solution and secure necessary funding.
Set a timetable for removing the dams that matches the urgency of the extinction crisis. There is no reason the dams cannot be breached and the investment made to replace their services by no later than 2027.

Senator Murray phone numbers: 202-224-2621 (DC Office), 206-553-0891 (Seattle Office)
Governor Inslee: 360-902-4111