A Blow to Rivers and Hope
On June 12, 2025, President Trump delivered a crushing setback to the Columbia River Basin's ecosystems. His memorandum dismantled the 2023 Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, a hard-won pact to save endangered salmon and steelhead. This choice clings to aging dams, imperiling vibrant rivers, wildlife, cultural heritage, and economic vitality across the Pacific Northwest.
That agreement united tribes, states, and conservationists in a plan to restore salmon while investing in clean energy to replace four Lower Snake River dams. It balanced nature with progress, honoring treaty rights and scientific consensus. Trump's decision rejects this vision, favoring infrastructure that supplies a mere fraction of regional power. Why unravel a strategy that secures both ecosystems and prosperity?
Rivers sustain life, from fish to farms to communities. Yet, this policy reflects a broader agenda, prioritizing fleeting profits and ignoring the escalating costs of environmental neglect, which undermines long-term sustainability. The stakes demand urgent attention.
Salmon, Tribes, and a Region at Risk
Salmon define the Pacific Northwest, anchoring ecosystems and economies. With wild runs dwindled to under 2 percent of historic levels, extinction looms without bold action. The 2023 agreement pledged millions for habitat restoration, fish passage, and tribal clean-energy projects, offering hope for 13 endangered runs, grounded in decades of Endangered Species Act litigation.
Trump's memorandum derails these efforts, cutting the Army Corps' Columbia River Fish Mitigation program by 46 percent. This slashes funding for fish passage, violating treaty obligations to tribes like the Nez Perce and Yakama, who rely on salmon for cultural and economic survival. Biologists warn that without major intervention, salmon could vanish, erasing billions in fisheries, tourism, and recreation revenue.
The administration defends dams for their 3,000 megawatts of hydropower, claiming it powers 2.5 million homes. Yet, these dams produce less than 10 percent of the Northwest's electricity. Studies confirm their services: energy, irrigation, and navigation can shift to renewables, rail, and efficiency, creating jobs and cutting emissions. Why preserve a flawed system when smarter solutions beckon?
Debunking the Case for Dams
Advocates for Trump's policy argue that breaching the Lower Snake River dams would harm farmers, spike energy costs, and disrupt shipping. They frame dams as vital to the region's economy, warning of job losses and higher bills. This narrative, however, falters under closer examination.
The 2023 agreement planned to modernize irrigation and shift freight to rail, ensuring agriculture thrives without ecological harm. The Northwest's booming wind and solar sectors, fueled by the Inflation Reduction Act, can replace dam power. The 2024 Klamath River dam removals restored 400 river miles for salmon while retiring minimal power, proving restoration aligns with progress. Every dollar invested in habitat returns three to seven dollars via flood protection, fisheries, and recreation.
Clinging to dams invites greater risks. Their ecological damage: blocked migration, warmer rivers, and disrupted sediment, drives economic losses. Aging infrastructure demands costly repairs, while sustainable alternatives promise growth. Trump's approach traps the region in decline, prioritizing a fading fossil-fuel model instead of fostering a thriving, green economy.
A Wider Assault on Our Planet
This memorandum fits a troubling pattern. Since January 2025, Trump has declared a National Energy Emergency, expanded Arctic drilling, and dismantled climate policies, including the social-cost-of-carbon framework. His administration prioritizes coal and oil, arguing they ensure jobs and grid stability. Yet, climate change costs the U.S. $18 billion yearly in disasters, while clean-energy jobs surge past fossil sectors.
Decades of evidence prove environmental protection fuels prosperity. The 1970s Clean Air Act cut pollution while boosting GDP. Biden's Inflation Reduction Act spurred thousands of jobs in renewables and manufacturing. States like California, with robust climate policies, lead in innovation and resilience. Trump's deregulatory push prioritizes short-term gains, which courts long-term economic harm and exposes communities to floods, droughts, and collapsing ecosystems.
Rallying for Our Rivers
The Columbia River Basin faces a pivotal moment. Trump's policy threatens decades of progress, but resistance is growing. Tribes, conservationists, and Pacific Northwest Democrats are preparing legal and legislative fights to save salmon and their communities. Their cause demands our support.
Restoring rivers is an essential endeavor. It delivers jobs in clean energy and restoration, sustains fisheries, and builds ecosystems resilient to climate change. It upholds treaties and forges a future where nature and people thrive. Will we allow narrow policies to erode this vision, or will we fight for better?
The way forward requires investment in sustainable solutions and a commitment to prioritizing ecosystems rather than outdated infrastructure. Our rivers, communities, and planet deserve a future built on hope and action.