WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Wildlife Federation heralded the Biden Administration’s commitments in a Presidential Memorandum to take specific actions to restore healthy and abundant salmon populations across the Columbia River Basin and keep its commitments to Northwest Tribes. 

Building on the leadership of Northwest Tribes, the memorandum prioritizes salmon recovery in the lower Snake River, where fish populations are at greatest threat of extinction, by directing agencies to use all their authorities, including assessing budget needs and capacity, to meet this goal. The announcement falls on the heels of the recent Upper Columbia announcement.

“After decades of leadership by the Nez Perce, Yakama, and Northwest Tribes, we are closer than ever to making the restoration of imperiled salmon populations in the Columbia River Basin a reality. By making salmon recovery a government-wide priority, this Presidential Memorandum provides much-needed momentum for the federal government to fulfill its Treaty obligations and ensure that local communities and ecosystems will benefit from healthy and abundant salmon runs once again. We are deeply grateful to the Biden Administration for their work with Tribes and partners to reach this critical milestone,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. 

The announcement falls on the heels of the recent 60-day litigation stay extension, filed Aug. 31 with the U.S. District Court in Oregon and is based on U.S. government commitments “supporting development of a durable long-term strategy to restore salmon and other native fish populations to healthy and abundant levels, honoring Federal commitments to Tribal Nations, delivering affordable and reliable clean power, and meeting the many resilience needs of stakeholders across the region.”

“We are so pleased that the administration has seized the opportunity to recover salmon, which are central to the Northwest way of life. Fiscally, environmentally — and morally — this is the right thing to do for future generations and for Northwest Tribes,” said Brian Brooks, executive director of the Idaho Wildlife Federation.  “This Presidential Memorandum finally puts us on the path toward fish abundance that provides economic, ecologic and cultural viability.”

You can find more information on the Presidential Memorandum here.