Contact: Rachel E. Wilson
Telephone: 208.621.4772
Email: rachelw@nezperce.org
Website: www.nezperce.org

September 3, 2025

Nez Perce Chairman Testifies before Congress in opposition to H.R.2073, the Defending Our Dams Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Nez Perce Tribal Chairman Shannon F. Wheeler testified before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries, urging Congress to reject H.R. 2073, the so-called “Defending Our Dams Act,” which would prohibit federal agencies from funding or even studying alternatives to the four lower Snake River dams.

Chairman Wheeler emphasized that the bill threatens to “cement the burden of the four Lower Snake River dams on the backs of the salmon and the tribes.” He reminded Congress that the dams block access to some of the most pristine salmon and steelhead habitat in the Lower 48, and that the health, culture, and treaty rights of Columbia Basin Tribes are inseparable from the survival of wild fish runs.

“As Salmon People, we have a covenant to meet the needs of the salmon and are obligated to speak the words that they cannot speak themselves,” Chairman Wheeler said. Wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia Basin are in crisis. Of the 16 stocks that originate above Bonneville Dam, 11 are listed under the Endangered Species Act or have already gone extinct. Many populations are at “quasi-extinction,” with fewer than 50 wild fish returning to spawn each year.

“The wild runs are indeed in dire straits. This bill would tie the hands of federal agencies and set the United States on an unambiguous course to destroy wild Snake River salmon runs, which would abrogate our Treaty-reserved rights to fish in all our usual and accustomed fishing areas,” Wheeler warned.

The Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI) — developed by the Nez Perce, Yakama, Umatilla, and Warm Springs Tribes alongside the states of Oregon and Washington — provides a clear, science-based alternative. The plan outlines actions to restore salmon to abundance while replacing the services of the four dams with stronger, more resilient energy, irrigation, and transportation systems.

View the subcommittee recording here (2:04:21)

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