By Stephen Pfeiffer, Abbie Abramovich and Lisa Young
October 6, 2025

Conservation and fishing groups, including Idaho Rivers United, Idaho Conservation League and the Sierra Club, alongside the states of Oregon and Washington and four tribes, have asked a judge to lift a pause on litigation in order to hold the federal government accountable for failing to protect the bottom line and long-term future for imperiled salmon and steelhead populations here in Idaho and across the Columbia Basin.

After several years of collaboration, a landmark 2023 agreement between the aforementioned entities and the federal government, known as the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, had put in place this long-term litigation pause surrounding salmon. This agreement outlined a state-tribal-federal partnership effort with a commitment of hundreds of millions of federal dollars to recover fish and develop clean energy across the region. This included studying and investing in replacement services for the four Lower Snake River dams, and moving beyond a costly status quo that has been effectively managing salmon runs towards extinction.

The Trump administration abruptly exited this partnership in June and offered no replacement salmon recovery plan. This left the region locked back into the same outdated infrastructure and hydro operations that have been failing fish and Idaho communities that rely on salmon runs for decades. It also left our groups, and state and tribal partners, no choice but to renew litigation over the lack of meaningful federal action to honor treaty rights and recover salmon.

For Idaho’s Snake River salmon that primarily spawn in the Salmon and Clearwater basins, the return to business as usual operations along the hydrosystem of eight federal dams and reservoirs between Idaho and the ocean is a particularly stark failure.

Our state does not lack high-quality fish habitat. The thousands of clean, cold river miles in central Idaho wilderness make up the best remaining salmon habitat in the lower-48, now and into a warmer future.

This area is still capable of supporting hundreds of thousands of salmon and steelhead. We know this because it has occurred as recently as the 1950s, immediately before the four Lower Snake River dams were installed.

Decades of science from fisheries managers point towards removing these four dams and boosting salmon survival during their migrations as the effective recovery lever we can pull for Idaho salmon. The return on investment would be massive, thanks to the ready-made salmon habitat upstream waiting to be filled with fish.

Why continue to invest in a system that we know is broken? Idaho could and should be a leader in following the best science and pushing the region beyond an outdated system that has worked for some but placed hardship on salmon communities. We can support our families and communities with strong agriculture, reliable energy and abundant salmon — but only if we do things differently.

Our region deserves better. We will continue to push for the removal of these deadbeat dams and the necessary investments to not only replace their services, but also expand them while allowing these iconic species to flourish.

Stephen Pfeiffer is the wild fish and hydropower manager for Idaho Rivers United. Abbie Abramovich is the salmon program senior associate at the Idaho Conservation League. Lisa Young is the director of the Idaho Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Idaho Statesman: Opinion: Snake River salmon lawsuits were on hold. Now we have to resume