Opinion By Gregg Servheen
April 20, 2026

In 2025, not a single wild salmon spawned in the 130 miles of the main stem Middle Fork of the Salmon River. Idaho’s wild salmon are declining 6% a year. Wild steelhead 11% a year. These fish are running out of time — and Idaho’s governor is running out of excuses.

Gov. Brad Little portrays himself as a steward of the land, someone who manages Idaho’s resources for future generations. Last month he had a chance to prove it. He failed.

A federal court ordered the agencies managing eight dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers to spill more water so juvenile salmon can reach the ocean — a modest lifeline for fish on a path to extinction. The judge recognized what federal hydrosystem managers have refused to: the law cannot ignore the continued collapse of Idaho’s listed stocks.

Little’s response? He called the ruling “a direct attack on agriculture and Idaho’s energy security, threatening reliable power and pushing costs higher,” and warned that “Idaho will not stand by while decisions made outside our borders put our public safety and economy at risk.”

What he did not say: a single word about Idaho’s salmon.

Nor does the ruling do what he claims. Spilling water to help juvenile fish reach the ocean does not threaten Idaho agriculture. It does not threaten energy security, reliable power or affordability. The governor’s alarm is misdirected at best, manufactured at worst.

The governor says Idaho ‘will not stand by.’ But standing by is exactly what Idaho has done. When U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson offered a comprehensive solution for Idaho’s salmon, Idaho was unengaged. When the Biden administration advanced the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative to recover these fish, Idaho stood by. When the Trump administration canceled it, Idaho said nothing. Now, when a federal judge is compelled by law to act, the governor offers only false alarms. Not a word about the treaty obligations owed to Idaho’s tribes, the lost recreation revenue in rural communities or what it would mean for Idaho to lose its salmon altogether.

Seven years ago, newly elected Little convened a salmon working group and promised an “aggressive non-breach policy.” No one, including apparently the governor himself, seems to know what that means. A lot of water has crossed the dams since — and fewer and fewer wild fish. With the restoration initiative dead, salmon advocates had no choice but to return to court, where a federal judge has now called out the Bonneville Power Administration and its federal partners for delay, obstruction and false solutions as wild fish slide toward extinction.

Recovering Idaho’s salmon is not a partisan issue. It is a Columbia Basin issue, and it demands a Columbia Basin answer. The Six Sovereigns — the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Nez Perce Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, and the states of Oregon and Washington — recognized that and proposed the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative.

What does Idaho propose? “No” is not a proposal. “No” ignores that Idaho has the most to lose — and much to gain. We don’t need Congress to solve this. We have the Northwest Power Act. We have the information and resources at hand. Whatever the concern — funding, transportation, energy — there is a serious answer for every serious question, if Idaho will come to the table.

We need a long view that recognizes our connection to each other and to the places we all share. Idaho’s salmon and Tribes have had that connection for thousands of years. Returning salmon from the Pacific feeding cultures and ecosystems. A governor connected to the land would take the long view.

Aldo Leopold called it “thinking like a mountain.” Are you ready to think like a mountain for Idaho’s salmon Little?

Gregg Servheen is a 43-year-plus hunting, fishing, camping, hiking and wildlife-loving resident of the state of Idaho.

Idaho Statesman: Time is running out for Idaho’s salmon. Speak up now, Gov. Little