Last week, I had the amazing opportunity to attend a ceremonial signing and celebration of the Columbia River Basin Agreement, a set of commitments by the US Government to take the first steps toward restoring truly abundant salmon, steelhead, and other fish throughout the region. These commitments were made in December in response to long-running litigation which ICL and others have pursued to save Snake River salmon from extinction. Representatives of the Biden Administration including John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President, and Brenda Mallory, Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality were in attendance, along with Washington Governor Jay Inslee, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, and the elected Chairs of the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Warm Springs, and Yakama Tribes. Tribal staff and several conservation groups were invited.
Spirits were high and it was great to see everybody obviously excited to be there – to have been part of working on this and to now be together. This signing was the culmination of years of hard work in the courtroom, mediation, and negotiations.
All of the signers had a chance to give a brief speech. It was powerful. The Tribal leaders shared how much they have lost, how hard they have worked for salmon, and how much must be done still. From the podium, Podesta closed the ceremony with this: “This is only the beginning. In a sense, this agreement is just a handshake. A set of solemn mutual commitments, ones we worked very hard to create, but at the end of the day, it’s a handshake nonetheless. It will take all of us committing to this partnership now and for years to come to lift the words off the page and bring this agreement to life. I want you to know that President Biden and Vice President Harris and the whole Administration are committed to making that happen.”
We’re grateful to our partner groups, the states of Oregon and Washington, and to Northwest Tribes for making this agreement possible. The unity among states and Tribes on this subject is unprecedented, and we will keep working with them to ensure the US Government keeps its commitments. More than anyone, we thank our legal counsel at Earthjustice for leading the charge toward this moment, and our own Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson for fundamentally changing the politics of this issue. Simpson alone, amongst all of the politicians in the Northwest, Democrat and Republican, had the courage to step into the ring. Without his leadership, this would not have happened.
It was humbling to be there to represent ICL and all that work that we have done together. Many staff and board members at ICL have played a role in getting us to this point, and our team will continue to push toward truly abundant salmon and a free-flowing lower Snake River.
Want to join this historic effort to restore salmon and steelhead to the Northwest? Take action below by urging your elected officials to pledge their support for this agreement and hold federal agencies accountable to urgently implement these critical actions!
Quotes from the day:
“Federal agencies are all hands on deck to support the efforts to restore wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia Basin. The historic agreement is charting a new and exciting path to restore the river, provide for clean energy, and live up to our responsibilities and obligations to tribal nations.”
– Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory
“The last time energy was developed in the Columbia Basin, it was done on the backs of tribal communities and tribal resources. Now, we have an opportunity to do better and to have the tribes at the table.”
– Yakama Nation Chairman Gerry Lewis
“The past is the past but this is where we want to go, where we want to be and the science is clear. We must act if we are to make sure we have fish for future generations in the Columbia River.”
– Oregon Governor Tina Kotek
“Let’s continue this work, let’s make these things happen for the future generations, not for us, but for them.”
– Nez Perce Tribal Chairman Shannon Wheeler
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