The Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NPCC) is updating its 5-year Fish and Wildlife Program – a regional plan for mitigating harm to endangered native fish affected by hydropower operations on the Columbia and Snake rivers.
With the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement abandoned by the current federal administration and efforts to dismantle endangered species protections across the country, the NPCC 2026 Fish and Wildlife Program is the best path to mitigate further harm to fish from hydropower operations in the Columbia and Snake rivers and make actionable progress towards recovery goals.
SUBMIT YOUR COMMENT TODAY to help ensure the final plan includes the following priorities:
- Accountability for Bonneville Power Administration to achieve Program goals and its legal obligation to protect and enhance all fisheries impacted by the hydropower system.
- Acknowledges lower Snake River dam breaching as a necessary measure to achieve the Council’s 5 million fish goal.
- Ensure the Final 2026 Fish and Wildlife Program and subsequent Ninth Power Plan chart a course towards affordable, efficient, and reliable energy that also protects and restores abundant fish populations.
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR COMMENT:
The public comment period is open from December 17 through March 2.
Submit online through the comment portal.
Comments can also be emailed to comments@nwcouncil.org or mailed to:
Northwest Power and Conservation Council
Attn: Kym Buzdygon, Director of Public Affairs
851 SW Sixth Avenue, Suite 1100
Portland, Oregon 97204
Use the comment template below to copy and paste into the NPCC portal.
COMMENT TEMPLATE:
Dear Northwest Power and Conservation Council Members,
Customize Intro:
I am deeply concerned about the crisis salmon and steelhead are facing across the Columbia Basin, and I urge you to adopt a final 2026 Fish and Wildlife Program that includes the full range of robust, actionable, and accountable measures necessary to achieve the Council’s legal obligations in the next 5-10 years and make actionable progress for salmon and steelhead recovery.
To achieve the Council’s five million fish goal, I urge you to adopt the following recommendations by State and Tribal fishery managers throughout the region, to whom the Council must pay deference as required by the Northwest Power Act, including the following priorities:
- As stated in draft Program, the Council should ensure all parties approach the development and implementation of the Program goals and objectives with a “spirit of collaboration and mutual accountability” – including Bonneville Power Administration, who must be required to uphold Tribal Treaty Rights, fully implement its obligation to protect and enhance all fisheries impacted by the hydro system, and effectively achieve the measures through a whole-of-government approach.
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The plan should acknowledge lower Snake River dam removal as a necessary measure. Established science clearly demonstrates that removing the lower Snake River dams is a necessary action to achieve the Council’s 5 million fish goal and will have the single largest impact on the recovery of salmon and steelhead stocks in the Columbia and Snake rivers. The Ninth Energy Plan should include an analysis of a lower Snake River dam breach scenario as part of comprehensive and responsible regional energy planning for the next 20 years. Omitting it would needlessly restrict potential solutions and leave the Council less prepared in the event of a breach decision in Congress.
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The Fish and Wildlife Program and Ninth Power Plan should ensure a path towards affordable, reliable, and new clean energy development- that also protects and restores harvestable and abundant salmon. Bonneville, and other Federal agencies and non-Federal operators shall pursue energy development that minimizes impacts on the Columbia River ecosystem and achieves the measures of the Fish and Wildlife Program to the maximum extent possible in parity with an adequate, efficient, economical, and reliable power supply. Instead of deferring some of the most important fish recovery measures to other processes that have failed, as previous plans have done, the Council should incorporate and fully address those measures in the Ninth Power Plan – as directed by the Northwest Power Act.
Signed,
