Trump administration withdraws from Columbia Basin salmon restoration agreement

President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, a 2023 plan to restore salmon populations and support tribal energy projects in the Pacific Northwest, according to the Associated Press. The agreement, supported by Washington, Oregon and four American Indian tribes, was designed to pause decades of litigation over dam impacts on salmon and invest more than $1 billion toward fish recovery and clean energy development.

Trump criticized the agreement as “radical environmentalism” that risked breaching four Snake River dams. Tribal leaders, environmental groups and Democratic lawmakers condemned the move, warning it threatens salmon recovery and tribal treaty rights. Yakama Tribal Council Chairman Gerald Lewis said the decision reflects a “historic pattern of broken promises to tribes.”