By Chris Vertopoulos
Published: May 17, 2025

Since its enactment five decades ago, the Endangered Species Act has served as a lifeboat to our nation’s most imperiled fish and wildlife and the irreplaceable benefits they bring to our communities.

Its success stories are numerous. The bald eagle, humpback whale and California sea otter are among those animals that likely would not be here today were it not for this law’s critical protections. All told, some 1,700 animal and plant species have been safeguarded by the ESA since it was signed into law.

This law is especially important to our fishing communities and businesses in the Northwest, where many wild and hatchery salmon and steelhead populations are in decline today as a result of lost and degraded habitat. Without the continued protections of the ESA, many fisheries experts fear we’ll lose additional stocks forever.

Such losses would be incalculable. Salmon define our Northwest culture and support our special way of life. They’re a keystone species that more than 100 other species benefit from and rely upon. In short, their extinction would devastate our region’s fishing businesses, communities, culture and environment.

That’s why it’s imperative that we do everything in our power to block the latest efforts to weaken this much-heralded law. Of particular concern is H.R. 1897 — the ESA Amendments Act of 2025 — introduced recently in Congress by Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark.

H.R. 1897 would eviscerate the ESA, prioritizing politics over science and undermining elements of the law that have made it a conservation success with broad public support. It would extend the timeline for listing decisions, require delistings to be fast-tracked, shift key implementation decisions from the federal government to the states and place significant new administrative burdens on increasingly understaffed and underfunded federal agencies.

A cornerstone of the ESA is the scientific consultation process — a legal requirement that the federal government consult with state wildlife agencies before it takes actions that could harm an ESA-listed species or its habitat. H.R. 1897 would upend this process. Among other damaging provisions, it would dismantle one of the ESA’s core tenets: habitat protection. By allowing projects that harm habitat to proceed unchecked, the bill would sever the connection between, for example, salmon and the cold, clean, healthy rivers they need to thrive.

Consider the implications of weakening the ESA for our region where our iconic native fish are running out of time.

The Columbia-Snake River Basin was once the most prolific salmon landscape on the planet — home to millions of wild salmon and steelhead. Today, those runs have been reduced to just 1 percent to 3 percent of their historic levels; according to fisheries experts, some runs are just two generations from extinction — that’s 6 to 10 years.

What would our rivers be without salmon? What would this mean to Northwest Tribes, for whom fishing is a way of life? And what about salmon-dependent small businesses, from guide/charter operators to bait and tackle shops, hotels and gas stations? Our region’s economy, culture and identity are tied to salmon.

Now is not the time to weaken a law that works. Americans overwhelmingly support the ESA. We care deeply about our nation’s fish and wildlife, and we all want our children and grandchildren to be able to experience the wonders of this rich natural legacy.

Please join me: Call on Congress to listen to the American people, reject this disastrous bill and defend our way of life in the Northwest. Our region’s imperiled salmon and steelhead populations are running out of time. It’s up to all of us to defend our values, our communities and our fish and wildlife before it’s too late.

Chris Vertopoulos was born and raised in Vancouver, where he lives today. He has owned and operated a fishing guide service for more than 30 years.

The Columbian: Local View: Now is not the time to weaken a law that works