President Donald Trump on Friday issued a memorandum removing the United States from a deal reached by the previous administration to restore the salmon population in the Pacific Northwest and help develop clean energy for Native American tribes there.
The Biden administration reached an agreement known as the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement with Oregon, Washington, and four Native American tribes that argued that hydroelectric dams in the Snake River have reduced the salmon population, which the tribes rely upon.
In the memorandum, Trump wrote that he “continues to prioritize our nation’s energy infrastructure and use of natural resources to lower the cost of living for all Americans over speculative climate change concerns.”
He also criticized the previous agreement as “radical environmentalism,” saying:
“The negative impacts from these reckless acts, if completed, would be devastating for the region, and there would be no viable approach to replace the low-cost, baseload energy supplied; the critical shipping channels lost; the vital water supply for local farmers reduced; or the recreational opportunities that would no longer be possible as a result of these acts.”
Gerald Lewis, who chairs the Yakama Tribal Council, said in a statement to The Guardian that the order “echoes the federal government’s historic pattern of broken promises to tribes, and is contrary to President Trump’s stated commitment to domestic energy development.”
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., also criticized the decision, saying in a statement:
“Donald Trump doesn’t know the first thing about the Northwest and our way of life — so of course, he is abruptly and unilaterally upending a historic agreement that finally put us on a path to salmon recovery, while preserving stable dam operations for growers and producers, public utilities, river users, ports and others throughout the Northwest. This decision is grievously wrong and couldn’t be more shortsighted.”
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