Current:Home > InvestTribes are celebrating a White House deal that could save Northwest salmon -InfiniteWealth
Tribes are celebrating a White House deal that could save Northwest salmon
View
Date:2025-04-18 06:22:32
BOISE, Idaho — The White House has reached what it says is an historic agreement over the restoration of salmon in the Pacific Northwest, a deal that could end for now a decades long legal battle with tribes.
Facing lawsuits, the Biden administration has agreed to put some $300 million toward salmon restoration projects in the Northwest, including upgrades to existing hatcheries that have helped keep the fish populations viable in some parts of the Columbia River basin.
The deal also includes a pledge to develop more tribally-run hydropower projects and study alternatives for farmers and recreators should Congress move to breach four large dams on the Snake River, a Columbia tributary, that tribes say have long been the biggest impediment for the fish.
"Many of the Snake River runs are on the brink of extinction. Extinction cannot be an option," says Corrine Sams, chair of the wildlife committee of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
The agreement stops short of calling for the actual breaching of those four dams along the Lower Snake in Washington state. Biden administration officials insisted to reporters in a call Thursday that the President has no plans to act on the dams by executive order, rather they said it's a decision that lies solely with Congress.
A conservation bill introduced by Idaho Republican Congressman Mike Simpson to authorize the breaching of the dams has been stalled for more than a year, amid stiff opposition from Northwest wheat farmers and utility groups.
When the details of Thursday's salmon deal were leaked last month, those groups claimed it was done in secret and breaching the dams could devastate the region's clean power and wheat farming economies that rely on a river barge system built around the dams.
"These commitments would eliminate shipping and river transportation in Idaho and eastern Washington and remove over 48,000 acres from food production," said Neil Maunu, executive director of the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association.
veryGood! (7)
Related
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Zendaya and Tom Holland Hold Hands on Rare Date After His Romeo and Juliet Debut in London
- Judge says $475,000 award in New Hampshire youth center abuse case would be ‘miscarriage of justice’
- Arizona man convicted of first-degree murder in starvation death of 6-year-old son
- Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
- Political consultant behind fake Biden robocalls faces $6 million fine and criminal charges
- Bursting can of bear spray drove away grizzly in Teton attack; bear won't be killed: Reports
- Low-Effort Products To Try if Your Want To Step up Your Fitness for Summer, but You Hate Exercise
- Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
- Moms for Liberty to spend over $3 million targeting presidential swing state voters
Ranking
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- NOAA 2024 hurricane season forecast warns of more storms than ever. Here's why.
- Charles Barkley says WNBA players are being 'petty' over attention paid to Caitlin Clark
- Sean Kingston's home raided by SWAT, mom arrested for 'fraud and theft'
- Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
- The Try Guys’ Eugene Lee Yang Exits YouTube Group 2 Years After Ned Fulmer Scandal
- Norfolk Southern agrees to $310 million settlement in Ohio train derailment and spill
- Massive wind farm proposal in Washington state gets new life from Gov. Jay Inslee
Recommendation
Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
Alaska mayor who wanted to give the homeless a one-way ticket out of Anchorage concedes election
Nathy Peluso talks 'Grasa' album, pushing herself to 'be daring' even if it's scary
Negro Leagues Museum unveils 24-foot-tall Satchel Paige card ahead of MLB Rickwood Field game
Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
EPA Formally Denies Alabama’s Plan for Coal Ash Waste
Pennsylvania Rep. Dwight Evans says he’s recovering from a minor stroke
See Michael Keaton, Jenna Ortega get their spooky on in 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' trailer