Most salmon populations in the Columbia Basin are nowhere near healthy and abundant – and many are hovering on the brink of extinction. The development and operation of federal hydroelectric dams is responsible for the overwhelming majority of the reduction in Columbia Basin salmon runs. Take Action to defend fish, Tribal rights & a healthy Columbia Basin.
Salmon form the cornerstone of an entire ecosystem, providing essential food for species such as Southern Resident orca whales, which are highly endangered with lack of prey as a primary threat. Commercial and recreational fisheries support family wage jobs and communities from Alaska to California, and the decline in wild salmon populations has led to livelihoods lost and communities compromised, as harvest is constrained to protect dwindling wild fish. These closures have been especially dire for Tribes whose treaty rights and way of life depend on these fish.
Confronted with this alarming decline in Columbia River Basin salmon, Congress in 1980 enacted the Northwest Power Act, under which BPA has an obligation to “protect, mitigate, and enhance” fish and wildlife to the extent they are impacted by federal hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River and its tributaries. BPA, like all federal agencies, must honor the United States’ treaties with Tribes as the supreme law of the land—including treaties that reserve to Tribes in the Basin the right to catch these fish.
Despite these clear obligations, BPA is turning its back on its legal responsibility to protect and rebuild salmon populations in the Columbia River Basin.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NPCC) is in the process of developing its 2026 Fish and Wildlife Program, which includes targets for salmon abundance and detailed measures to achieve those targets. Since 1987, NPCC has repeatedly reaffirmed a goal of 5 million salmon returning annually to the Basin. While only a fraction of historic abundance, this target is nonetheless more than double recent average annual returns of around 2 million fish.
But now, BPA is trying to wash its hands of this legal responsibility.
In recommendations recently filed to NPCC, BPA has requested NPCC to eliminate or adjust downward its target of 5 million salmon returning to the Columbia River Basin annually. BPA has also argued in its recommendations that it should not have any responsibility to meet the targets even if the NPCC does retain them.
TAKE ACTION: BPA Must Not Abandon Its Obligations to Salmon!
Submit a comment to Northwest Power and Conservation Council to:
- Reject BPA’s recommendations to eliminate salmon recovery goals and ensure BPA and the region meet its obligations to protect, mitigate, and enhance our irreplaceable salmon.
- Support NPCC staff’s proposal to model dam breaching and “fish-first, non-breach” hydro operations as part of their plan. With this proposal, the Council would be able to assess what the region’s power needs would be if we fully commit to the actions that fish need to recover to healthy and abundant levels – a key prerequisite to actually implementing these increased fish protections (i.e. dam breach or improved fish operations). This proposal is based on overwhelming recommendations from the region’s fish and wildlife experts, including Tribes and states.
Use this form to submit a comment by July 3:
Write your own, or copy and paste our suggested comment below!
Comment template:
Dear Northwest Power and Conservation Council Members,
I am deeply concerned about the crisis salmon and steelhead are facing across the Columbia Basin, and Bonneville Power Administration’s attempt to abandon its obligations to help recover and rebuild imperiled salmon populations.
In recommendations recently submitted to the NPCC, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) calls for the elimination of the long-held interim goal of 5 million salmon returning to the Columbia River Basin annually, as well as the productivity goals that would lead to increased salmon abundance. BPA also argues in its recommendations that it should not have any responsibility to meet the NPCC’s targets even if the Council does retain them.
BPA cannot reconcile its recommendations with its obligation under the NW Power Act to protect, mitigate, and enhance salmon populations to the extent they are affected by the federal hydrosystem.
The region’s fish and wildlife managers have proposed an extensive set of science-based measures that will help the region achieve the 5 million goal, and the NPCC should adopt these expert recommendations.
Additionally, I urge the NPCC to adopt recommendations to include dam breach and “fish first” scenarios in program modeling. Understanding the impact of these scenarios on energy production is critical to developing solutions that support both healthy salmon runs and affordable, reliable energy – which is the core of the NPCC’s mission.
I strongly urge you to maintain these important goals and benchmarks and include the proposed modeling for dam breach and “fish first” hydro operations in the final FY 26’ Fish and Wildlife Program.
Signed,
