Image by Kent Sanders
A decades-long legal fight over the fate of 4 federal dams on the Lower Snake River has actually gotten in a vital brand-new stage, with ecological complainants and the Trump administration heading towards a critical courtroom face-off. Tomorrow marks the due date for legal briefs in what might turn into one of the most substantial judgments for Pacific Northwest salmon and steelhead in years.
The heightened lawsuits follows President Trump’s June 12, 2025 revocation of a Biden-era Memorandum of Comprehending (MOU) that had actually stopped briefly the suit for approximately ten years. The arrangement, called the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, devoted over $1 billion in federal financing towards salmon remediation and laid foundation for the possible breaching of the 4 Lower Snake River dams– Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower Granite.
Emergency Situation Procedures Sought for Spring Migration
Earthjustice, representing a union of preservation groups, submitted an initial injunction demand in October 2025 asking U.S. District Court Judge Michael Simon to mandate emergency situation functional modifications at the dams starting in March 2026. The asked for steps consist of reducing tank levels to minimum operating swimming pools and increasing water overflow the dams– permitting juvenile fish to pass over the structures instead of through turbines that can eliminate or hurt them.
The states of Oregon and Washington, in addition to the Nez Perce People and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Country, have actually submitted briefs supporting the injunction demand.
” When the Trump administration broke this thoroughly worked out arrangement– and used no alternative strategy to bring back threatened salmon and steelhead– we had no choice however to resume our longstanding lawsuits to safeguard threatened salmon,” stated Earthjustice Lawyer Amanda Goodin in an October court filing.
The lawsuits goes back to 2001, when the National Wildlife Federation and Oregon initially took legal action against federal companies over dam operations that complainants argue breach the Endangered Types Act.
Fish Populations at Important Levels
The seriousness behind the legal push is highlighted by disconcerting population information. According to the Nez Perce Tribe’s Fisheries Resources Management department, 6 Snake River steelhead populations– 27% of the types’ overall number– are now on the “vital list,” indicating they are listed below termination limits or quickly approaching them. 10 Snake River spring/summer Chinook populations deal with comparable alarming scenarios.
In 2025, only 14 wild Snake River sockeye salmon effectively went back to their generating premises in main Idaho– a plain illustration of how far these populations have actually fallen because being noted as threatened.
Summer season steelhead returns have actually been depressed for almost a years. The 2025 forecast anticipated simply 25,790 steelhead going back to Lower Granite Dam– approximately one-third of the previous year’s returns.
” The fish are anything however healthy,” stated Jay Hesse, Director of Biological Solutions for the Nez Perce Department of Fisheries Resources Management, noting that declares of enhancing salmon numbers frequently depend on hatchery fish while obscuring the collapse of wild populations.
Market Groups Press Back
The proposed injunction has actually drawn strong opposition from navigation, farming, and power interests. More than 30 opposing briefs were submitted in federal court by December 2025, cautioning that the asked for modifications would threaten financial stability throughout the Pacific Northwest.
The Pacific Northwest Waterways Association argues the proposed steps might threaten navigation security and river system dependability. The 4 dams keep an accessible waterway that manages roughly 10% of all U.S. wheat exports.
NOAA Fisheries submitted statement recommending the proposed steps may in fact increase– not reduce– the danger of salmon populations falling listed below termination limits compared to existing operations.
” Our electrical grid is under unmatched stress, this movement dangers plunging our area into crisis,” stated Kurt Miller, CEO and executive director of the Northwest Public Power Association.
Energy professionals approximate the proposed functional modifications would cost the area $152 million to $169 million in 2026 to change lost hydroelectric capability and would lead to increased carbon emissions as gas centers make up for decreased dam output.
The Trump Administration’s Position
President Trump’s June 2025 governmental memorandum, entitled “Preventing Radical Environmentalism to Create Power for the Columbia River Basin,” defined the Biden-era arrangement as positioning “lost issues about environment modification” and “fair treatment for fish” above nationwide energy requirements.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright visited Ice Harbor Dam in December 2025, highlighting the administration’s dedication to keeping the dams. The 4 centers supply roughly 3,000 megawatts of hydroelectric creating capability– sufficient to power an approximated 2.5 million homes, according to the administration.
” That’s an energy subtraction policy and the Trump administration, we have to do with energy addition,” Wright stated of the previous administration’s method.
Federal companies are now opposing the initial injunction, with the Department of Justice filing briefs refuting the asked for functional modifications.
What Happens Next
Judge Simon is expected to hear arguments on the initial injunction by February, with a judgment possibly coming right after. If given, the injunction might mandate substantial modifications to river operations as early as this spring, impacting the 2026 juvenile salmon migration season.
For anglers and fishing neighborhoods, the stakes extend beyond the courtroom. The lawsuits’s result will form river circulations and fish passage conditions for what researchers alert are currently significantly diminished runs. Trout Unlimited has actually called the existing scenario “a few of our worst returns on record for both salmon and steelhead.”
On the other hand, winter season fishing on neighboring waters continues. Current reports from the South Fork of the Snake River suggest efficient fishing for resident trout utilizing midget and nymph patterns, using a minimum of some solace for regional anglers as the legal fight unfolds.
The case, National Wildlife Federation v. National Marine Fisheries Service, has actually been continuous for almost 25 years. Throughout that time, federal courts have actually stated unlawful 6 various federal dam management strategies, yet companies have actually not produced operations that effectively safeguard salmon to complainants’ complete satisfaction.
As the January 22 due date for briefs shows up, the Pacific Northwest as soon as again discovers itself at a crossroads– stabilizing the financial advantages of hydropower and navigation versus treaty responsibilities and the survival of fish populations that have actually sustained the area’s Native individuals, communities, and fishing neighborhoods for centuries.
