SEATTLE — The newly signed United States Government Columbia Basin Commitments, signed by President Joe Biden, White House officials and leaders of the “Six Sovereigns,”—  the Four Columbia Basin Tribes and the states of Washington and Oregon — will help restore and conserve Snake River salmon and steelhead runs, expand clean energy production, increase resiliency, and provide stability for communities throughout the Columbia River Basin. The signing ceremony puts into effect the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative, an agreement that offers a  multi-year pause in litigation over the impacts of dams on Snake River between the Biden administration, the states of Oregon and Washington, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Spring Reservation, and the Nez Perce Tribe. 

“We are deeply grateful for the remarkable leadership, collaboration, and shared commitment among the  Northwest Tribes, governors, conservation organizations, and the Biden Administration to save salmon. The commitments agreed upon with the Biden Administration provide critical investments that will move us one step closer to save salmon and steelhead — and the jobs, communities, and cultures that depend upon them — in the Columbia River Basin,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, who attended today’s ceremony. “By working together and investing in the region, we seize one of the defining opportunities for the Northwest — restoring abundant salmon runs and ensuring local communities and ecosystems that depend on them can thrive.”

The landmark restoration agreement announced on Dec. 14, 2023 included a multi-year stay in our Snake River litigation and includes four major actions, including hundreds of millions of dollars in salmon protection, Tribal energy projects, and federal support for planning efforts to replace the services provided by the lower Snake River dams.
 

Background
The Biden administration issued a Presidential Memorandum on Columbia Basin restoration in September 2023, directing federal agencies to use all of their authorities to restore healthy and abundant wild salmon and steelhead populations across the Columbia and Snake River Basin and to review and update any policies not aligned with that goal.

Following the Presidential Memorandum, the Biden Administration announced in December more than $1 billion in U.S. Government Columbia Basin Commitments to begin implementing the Tribal-State CBRI to restore fisheries in the Columbia Basin while also beginning work to replace the energy, transportation, irrigation, and recreation services now provided by the four Lower Snake River dams.