President Trump pulled the U.S. out of a Biden-era agreement with several tribes that aimed to restore salmon in the Pacific Northwest.
Trump, in a late Thursday memo, described the Biden administration’s agreement as an example of “radical environmentalism” and said his administration would instead prioritize power generation from hydroelectric dams in the region.
The Biden-era agreement came after decades of litigation related to the federal government’s use of hydroelectric dams in the Columbia River Basin. It included funding to help restore salmon populations as well as support for renewables to replace power from the dams if they are removed.
Environmentalists have said four dams in Washington state, in particular, have blocked off salmon from important habitats where they lay and fertilize eggs. Tribes in the region have historically relied on these fish.
The Biden administration had said its agreement would “prioritize” restoring native salmon, steelhead and other fish. It added that the fish are being “severely depleted” and that they are “essential to the culture, economy, religion, and way of life” of Indigenous people.
But, Trump, in his latest memo, argued that the Biden administration’s agreement would endanger a key source of baseload power, which can be deployed at any time.
“The negative impacts from these reckless acts, if completed, would be devastating for the region, and there would be no viable approach to replace the low-cost, baseload energy supplied; the critical shipping channels lost; the vital water supply for local farmers reduced; or the recreational opportunities that would no longer be possible as a result of these acts,” he said in the memo.
Environmental advocates criticized the Trump administration’s move.
“The Trump administration is turning its back on an unprecedented opportunity to support a thriving Columbia Basin—and ignoring the extinction crisis facing our salmon,” Earthjustice senior attorney Amanda Goodin said in a written statement. “Unfortunately, this short-sighted decision to renege on this important agreement is just the latest in a series of anti-government and anti-science actions coming from the Trump administration.”
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