The Biden-era Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement's pledge to restore native fish populations and invest in tribal clean energy projects had paused courtroom battles.

By Monique Merrill
September 11, 2025

PORTLAND, Ore. (CN) — The Trump administration’s abrupt June withdrawal from an agreement intended to protect endangered Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead has spurred a coalition of conservation groups, tribes and two states to ask a federal judge on Thursday to lift a stay on decades-old litigation against the government.

“Healthy runs are key for successful fish migration — and our salmon and steelhead runs are in crisis,” Oregon Governor Tina Kotek said in a statement. “President Trump walking away from these commitments presents a very real threat at a time when the fish are on the brink of extinction.”

U.S. District Judge Michael Simon, a Barack Obama appointee, granted the coalition’s joint motion to lift the stay late Thursday, allowing the case to move forward again.

The Biden administration introduced the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement in late 2023. It was the result of a deal struck with Oregon, Washington, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, and the National Wildlife Federation, after they had proposed the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative.

Under the agreement, the government committed to immediate measures to protect salmon, along with a decade-long plan to manage hydropower operations while meeting rising energy needs.

The agreement followed decades of litigation and prompted the plaintiffs to ask the court to pause proceedings. However, President Donald Trump directed federal agencies to withdraw from the agreement in an executive order titled “Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Generate Power for the Columbia River Basin.”

Trump accused the agreement of placing too much value on the treatment of fish and concerns about climate change over the “nation’s interests in reliable energy resources and the needs of American citizens.”

“The reasoning underpinning the court’s decision to impose the stay has been nullified by recent events. The court should lift the stay in this case and allow interested parties to proceed with the litigation,” the plaintiffs wrote in their joint motion to lift the stay.

Amanda Goodin, an attorney for Earthjustice representing the conservation groups, said the plaintiffs had no choice but to return to court.

“Since this administration has reneged on this carefully negotiated agreement — with no alternative plan to restore our imperiled salmon and steelhead — we find ourselves once again on a course towards extinction of these critically important species,” Goodin said in a statement.

Under the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, the government committed to supporting the development of tribally-sponsored clean energy projects as well as investing $300 million over 10 years to restore native fish populations.

“The Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement was a historic opportunity to restore salmon populations, uphold commitments to sovereign tribal nations, and meet our region’s clean energy demands,” Oregon Attorney General Rayfield said in a statement. “By walking away, the federal government has put salmon and steelhead on the brink of extinction and once again broken promises to tribal partners. Extinction is not an option."

The plaintiffs intend to move for a preliminary injunction with an opportunity for oral argument early next year, aiming for a ruling ahead of the planned fish passages in March.

The former administration also committed to studying the replacement of the irrigation, recreation and transportation services provided by four dams on the lower Snake River.

Those dams continue to harm salmon and steelhead, according to Bill Arthur, director of the Sierra Club’s Snake/Columbia River Campaign.

“We have a responsibility to return to court to improve and modernize our hydropower system so we can have affordable and reliable clean energy well into the future, alongside healthy and salmon and steelhead runs,” Arthur said in a statement.

Courthouse News Service: States, tribes revive long-running lawsuit after Trump nixes fish deal