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Trump Halts Efforts to Tear Out Snake River Dams in Eastern WA by Annette Cary Tri-City Herald, June 13, 2025

Kennewick, Wash. -- President Trump signed a memo intended to save the lower Snake River dams in Eastern Washington on Thursday, reversing Biden administration actions that helped support efforts to remove the hydroelectric dams.

Trump said in a memo that his administration was "committed to protecting the American people from radical green agenda policies that make their lives more expensive, and to maximizing the beneficial uses of our existing energy infrastructure and natural resources to generate energy and lower the cost of living."

He revoked the Biden Administration's "Restoring Healthy and Abundant Salmon, Steelhead and Other Native Fish Populations in the Columbia River Basin" memo, which Trump's administration said placed concerns about climate change above the nation's interests in reliable energy.

Trump's memo called for a withdrawal from actions that grew out of Biden's memo, including an agreement between the federal government, the states of Washington and Oregon, and Northwest tribes signed in February 2024.

The agreement stopped short of a federal decision to remove the dams, but supporters and opponents of the dams called it a roadmap to breaching them, according to the Northwest Public Power Association.

Removing the dams from Ice Harbor Dam near the Tri-Cities upriver to Lower Granite Dam near Lewiston, Idaho, "would be devastating for the region," Trump's memo said.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., who has fought to save the dams throughout his decade in federal office, thanked Trump for his "decisive actions."

Removing the dams would have "threatened the reliability of our power grid, raised energy prices and decimated our ability to export grain to foreign markets," Newhouse said.

WA senator: Decision shortsighted

But Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said, "Donald Trump doesn't know the first thing about the Northwest and our way of life .... This decision is grievously wrong and couldn't be more shortsighted."

She said the "once-in-a-generation" agreement brokered by the Biden administration put the region on the path to recovering endangered salmon populations, while preserving the benefits of the lower Snake River dams.

The agreement led to a pause in a nearly 30-year-old court case over Columbia River system dams, with the stay now in jeopardy, Murray said.

Under the agreement, the federal government was required to spend more than $1 billion, including $300 million from the Bonneville Power Administration, over a decade to restore native fish and their habitats.

The Biden administration agreement set the Northwest on a path to restore a strong fishing economy and honor tribal treaty rights," said Liz Hamilton, policy director of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association.

"It's a big loss for the Northwest's economy, and a dagger to the heart of our industry," she said. "The sportfishing industry is a cultural and economic engine generating over $5 billion in economic output for the region, creating jobs for nearly 37,000."

Wild Columbia and Snake river salmon exist on borrowed time, said Greg McReynolds, Idaho Rivers United's executive director.

"The administration's decision to abandon these commitments is exceptionally shortsighted and deeply troubling," he said.

Miles Johnson, legal director of Columbia Riverkeeper, agreed that Trump's decision was shortsighted, but said it would interrupt, but not derail, "strong partnerships for salmon recovery and lower Snake River dam removal."

Related Pages:
Snake River Dam Supporters Cry Foul as Feds Plan Update to Study that Rejected Breaching by Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald, 12/20/24