For Immediate Release:
YAKAMA NATION URGES BPA TO RESTORE $50M IN WITHHELD SALMON RECOVERY FUNDS
Tribe warns withheld funds jeopardize salmon recovery and federal ESA obligations.
December 4, 2025, TOPPENISH, WA — The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation are calling on the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to reverse its decision to withhold more than $50 million in Columbia Basin Fish Accord funds, warning that the action threatens critical salmon recovery work and undermines longstanding federal environmental commitments. BPA had previously assured the Tribe that unspent funds from the 17-year partnership would remain available to Yakama Nation after the Accords expired to support habitat and hatchery projects across the Basin.
BPA has asserted that Yakama Nation’s support for an unopposed procedural motion to lift a litigation stay in National Wildlife Federation v. National Marine Fisheries Service (NWF v. NMFS) was an “adverse litigation action” that violated the Fish Accords. The Yakama Nation strongly disputes BPA’s interpretation and has asked the BPA Administrator to restore the Tribe’s access to withheld Accord funds.
The sole basis for the litigation stay ended when the federal government terminated the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement (RCBA) in June 2025. The September 2025 motion to lift the stay was unopposed by the U.S. Department of Justice, which represents the federal defendants, and neither the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation nor the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (both defendants and Fish Accord signatories) raised any Accord-compliance concerns when reviewing the proposed filing.
“Lifting the stay wasn’t a litigation attack — it was a routine procedural step after the federal government withdrew from the RCBA,” said Councilman Jeremy Takala, Chair of the Yakama Nation Fish & Wildlife Committee. “BPA’s reaction mischaracterizes what happened and puts unnecessary strain on a partnership that has accomplished real work for salmon.”
This year, the federal government withdrew from both major regional salmon recovery partnerships—the RCBA and the Columbia Basin Fish Accords. Although the terms of the Accords obligated BPA to negotiate successor agreements, BPA unilaterally decided to allow the Accords to expire on September 30, 2025 without replacements. “The federal government—not the Yakama Nation—walked away from both the RCBA and the Fish Accords,” said Chairman Gerald Lewis. “BPA’s decision to pull back promised Accord funds is not only unfair, but harmful to decades of shared progress.”
In October 2025, following the expiration of the Accords and collapse of the RCBA, the Yakama Nation made a principled decision to align with Plaintiffs in NWF v. NMFS. However, this shift occurred after the Accords ended and did not violate their terms.
The withheld funds support hatchery operations, habitat restoration, and infrastructure investments that form part of the ESA mitigation baseline underlying NOAA’s 2020 Biological Opinion, already under court challenge. Failure to implement these actions could expose federal agencies to additional ESA risk.
The Tribe is also concerned about how BPA intends to handle reclaimed funds. “Ratepayers have already paid for these mitigation dollars,” said Takala. “They must not be swept back into BPA’s general fund—they must be used as intended for fish restoration in key watersheds within Yakama Nation’s historic territory.” Despite the dispute, the Yakama Nation remains committed to working with BPA to restore Columbia Basin salmon.
Background:
The National Wildlife Federation, et al. v. National Marine Fisheries Service, et al,. Case No. 3:01-cv-0640-SI (D. Or.) (“NWF v. NMFS”), is federal litigation that challenges the adequacy of federal biological opinions governing operations of the Columbia River hydropower system under the Endangered Species Act. The Yakama Nation has participated in NWF v. NMFS as amicus curiae since 2001, providing technical and cultural expertise and information to the Court. With the recent expiration of the Columbia Basin Fish Accords [1] and federal withdrawal from the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement [2] (“RCBA”), Yakama Nation has shifted from an unaligned amicus status to being aligned with Plaintiffs. Yakama Nation’s participation in this case remains focused on its longstanding goal: to prevent extinction, ensure federal accountability, and restore healthy and abundant salmon and steelhead throughout the Columbia Basin.
The United States’ December 14, 2023 Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement with the Yakama, Umatilla, Warm Springs, and Nez Perce tribes, and the states of Washington and Oregon (commonly, the “Six Sovereigns” for ease of reference) was negotiated in a confidential federal mediation arising from the proceedings in NWF v. NMFS
The RCBA provided a package of initial federal commitments (the “USG Commitments”) in support of the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative [3] (“CBRI”) developed by the Six Sovereigns during the mediation to address fundamental issues underlying the decades-long litigation. (More information on the CBRI is available at: https://critfc.org/cbri/)
About Yakama Nation:
Yakama Nation is a sovereign, federally recognized Native Nation whose Treaty of 1855 with the United States guarantees the Tribe’s reserved right to fish at all usual and accustomed places in the Columbia River Basin. Yakama Nation remains committed to honoring, protecting, and restoring Columbia Basin salmon and other native fish, and to advancing the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative together with tribal, state, federal, local, and community partners.
Yakama Nation Press Release PDF
1. Available at: https://www.bpa.gov/environmental-initiatives/efw/columbia-basin-fish-accords
2. Available at: https://critfc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CBRI-MOU.pdf
3. Available at: https://critfc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CBRI-overview.pdf
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Contact Yakama Nation Public Information Officer Star Diavolikis at (509) 830-6698 with press inquiries.
