As Dispute Over Fish Accord Funds Lingers, BPA Says It Hopes To Continue Talks On Long-Term Funding For Fish/Wildlife Projects
December 19th, 2025
In a continuing disagreement between the Yakama Nation and the Bonneville Power Administration over the expiration of the Columbia Basin Fish Accords and carryover funds, the power agency says it had hoped to continue talks that would extend some form of the Accords long-term.
Yakama Nation Requests BPA Release $50 Million In Unspent Fish Accords Funds, Supports Hatchery, Habitat Projects
December 5th, 2025
The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation publicly took a step this week towards recovering $50 million in Columbia Basin Fish Accord funds from the Bonneville Power Administration after the federal power marketing agency had allowed the Accords to expire at the end of September.
BPA’s Columbia Basin Fish Accords (Salmon Recovery Projects) With States, Tribes Expire; Future Agreements, Use Of Carryover Funds Uncertain
November 22nd, 2025
The Bonneville Power Administration allowed the long-running Columbia Basin Fish Accords with tribes and states to expire Sept. 30, 2025 and it’s unclear if future agreements that would benefit salmon and steelhead recovery in the basin will materialize. Although BPA says it is open to discuss future Accords agreements with tribes, so far that has been more aspirational than substantive, at least according to one tribe.
Trump Rescinds Biden’s Executive Order Aimed At Restoring Columbia Basin Salmon, Steelhead Runs
June 13th, 2025
The Trump administration issued a memorandum this week that disrupts Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead recovery by rescinding a 2023 agreement that included the federal government, two states and four Columbia River tribes and funded that effort with nearly $1 billion.
Tribes’ Habitat Efforts In Progress To Maintain, Improve Cold Water Refuges For Columbia River Salmon Upstream Bonneville Dam
May 23rd, 2025
Habitat work by Columbia River tribes is in progress to maintain and rejuvenate refuges of cold water in the Columbia River upstream of Bonneville Dam in partnership with the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement.
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Work Continues To Improve Lamprey Passage At Columbia/Snake Dams, Corp Completing Changes To Bonneville Dam Fish Ladder
March 15th, 2025
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in the process of revamping the dam’s northern-most fish ladder near the Washington shore at a cost of some $8 million. According to the Corps, the project is changing out a portion of the fish ladder, which spans 800 feet from top to bottom, that was originally a serpentine passage of concrete walls, called baffles, with a newer baffle design more friendly to lamprey.
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Oregon Lawmakers Seek Reversal Of Administration Actions On Programs Serving Tribal Communities, Cite Trust, Treaty Obligations
March 15th, 2025
Oregon’s U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden—along with Oregon U.S. Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Val Hoyle, Andrea Salinas, Maxine Dexter, and Janelle Bynum -- joined over 100 Members of Congress to demand that the Trump Administration stop and reverse its “dangerous efforts to fire employees and defund programs” that serve Tribes and Tribal members.