The Colville Tribes and the Tribes’ project partners, the Spokane Tribe and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, have been reintroducing Chinook salmon to the waters upstream of Grand Coulee Dam since 2017. On July 8th, a juvenile Chinook salmon was caught and photographed in the Kettle River, just downstream from Cascade Falls in British Columbia. It’s the first report of a Chinook in the Kettle River since the reintroduction began.

Reaction was swift over President Trump’s decision to terminate the federal government’s “Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement,” with parties both condemning and celebrating the move.

On March 18, 2025, the Nez Perce Tribe announced the appointment of Joseph Y. Oatman as Manager of the Nez Perce Tribe Department of Fisheries Resources Management (“DFRM”).

In a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation suggest that if a pumped storage project near the Columbia River’s John Day Dam moves forward, the Yakama Nation should receive no less than $40 million in mitigation for damage to tribal resources. The money would be used for the preservation and management of sacred and sensitive properties to the Yakama Nation.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has published a new long-term management plan for invasive European green crabs (EGC). This harmful shore crab species is a threat to native shellfish, estuary habitats, eelgrass, Washington’s aquaculture industry, and other tribal, cultural, and environmental values.

Department of Interior’s Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland announced that Bryan Mercier has been selected to serve as the next director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.