Snake River Dams Update

June 4, 2025 4:47 pm

Author: Ian Connolly

I would not be doing my due diligence if I failed to share with you all the latest updates from the fight to remove the four lower Snake River dams. I will start at the beginning, in case any readers of you are new to this story or just in need of a refresher.

Background on Salmon and the Snake River dams

On the Pacific Coast of North America, six species of salmon make their migrations from rivers to the sea and back to the rivers where they were born. These anadromous fish are keystone species, meaning their presence sustains the life of entire ecosystems. They contribute to ecosystems with the nutrition that they provide to other species, including to bears, eagles, trees, humans, and many more. Salmon are deeply significant to all life on the Pacific coast, especially to indigenous peoples. Amazingly, salmon also return (previously in abundance) all the way from the West Coast to Idaho.

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Northwest, running more than 1,200 miles from British Columbia to its terminus on the Oregon/Washington coast. Prior to the arrival of Europeans in North America, the Columbia hosted up to an estimated 12 million salmon per year. Now, the Columbia returns a fraction of that number of salmon, a decline that resulted in widespread “endangered” listings for salmon species beginning in the early 1990s. The causes of this decline are multiple: nineteen hydroelectric dams on the mainstem of the columbia, a legacy of overfishing, the decimation of indigenous peoples, and loss of critical habitat, among others.

Despite the dire situation that salmon face, these remarkable species persist, and thanks to the conservation efforts of their dedicated advocates and tribal knowledge, wild salmon still have a chance.

Among the best, most accessible salmon spawning habitat remaining in the Columbia Basin is in central Idaho in the Salmon and Clearwater rivers, nearly 1,000 miles from the coast of Oregon. There, the Frank Church wilderness, the largest in the lower 48, has preserved the spawning grounds of wild salmon.

The Problem and the Solution

Salmon biologists and tribal fish managers have spent years mapping out the potential paths to Salmon recovery, and the consensus is clear: if wild salmon could safely reach Idaho’s habitat in sufficient numbers (a 2% return rate would suffice) their populations could begin to climb again. The problem? Four dams on the lower Snake River that impede both downstream and upstream fish passage.

Tribes and environmental organizations have pursued a multi-pronged strategy to attempt to recover salmon in the Columbia River. This strategy has included litigation, coalition building, public messaging, policymaking, and collaboration. Each of these strategies has been in part successful, but things are shifting in the American political landscape that threaten to relegate salmon to a fate of extinction. Though many voters were entirely unaware of it, the future of wild salmon was on the ballot last November, and we all know the outcome. To put it plainly, the Trump administration doesn’t care a lick about wild salmon, protecting wild places, or finding common sense solutions to these particular complex problems. Which puts us in a really bad position. But it is because of this grim outlook that we need all hands on deck.

Recent Developments in the Fight to Save Salmon

The long and short of it is that the Biden administration, for all of its faults, recruited staff members that cared a whole lot about Tribal sovereignty, solving the energy crisis, and saving wild salmon. I have been lucky enough to meet some of those folks and can tell you that real, genuine people from the West were brought into the decision-making spaces and effectively persuaded people in Washington to care. The president of the United States was briefed on wild salmon, and the connection to tribal sovereignty, and decided to send people into that arena to solve these problems. It is not hyperbole to say that the Biden administration was the best administration we have had in our lifetimes when it comes to tribal issues (of which wild salmon is one) and climate change (of which wild salmon is also one).

A lot of developments happened during the Biden administration, but the most significant was an agreement between “the six sovereigns” to develop a strategy for removing the four lower Snake River dams and funding energy replacement projects, primarily as a form of Tribal economic stimulus. This agreement is technically still in place, though it seems like it will fall apart in one way or another. Should this happen, the issue will return to the federal courts.

Outside of the federal government, the folks driving the work to save wild salmon are all either working for Tribal governments, state governments, or non-profits (there is no meaningful push from the private sector to solve this problem because the private sector cares solely about generating profits). Now is the time to pitch in by learning the issues, running for local government or supporting elected officials who support salmon, and by donating to non-profits.

The fate of wild salmon still rests in the balance, and within the tangled mess of politics in this country, salmon can and should serve as common ground. Ultimately, the executive branch (the president) and the federal courts lack the authority to authorize the removal of the four lower Snake River dams. Only Congress can order their removal, and ultimately, that is where we come in. Congress is inherently designed to be responsive to the people of the United States and our only hope is to convince enough Congress-members to care. We have one, a republican house member from Idaho named Mike Simpson. But we need more – representatives who care, and more citizens who understand what is at stake. If we can come together, we can save wild salmon, it’s that simple.

List of organizations to follow and support:

Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment: https://www.nimiipuuprotecting.org/home-original
Columbia Snake River Campaign: https://columbiasnakeriver.com/
Idaho Conservation League: https://idahoconservation.org/our-work/salmon-and-steelhead/
Idaho Rivers United: https://www.idahorivers.org/lsrd
Trout Unlimited: https://www.tu.org/lowersnake/
Save our Wild Salmon: https://www.wildsalmon.org/
Advocates for the West: https://advocateswest.org/protecting-fish-wildlife/
Save the Southfork: https://savethesouthforksalmon.com/
American Rivers: https://www.americanrivers.org/river/snake-river/
River Newe: https://rivernewe.org/
The Grand Salmon: https://salmonsourcetosea.com/meet-the-team/