Risch-Newhouse Bill Would Reverse Energy Progress at the Cost of Salmon Extinction

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

January 23, 2025

Yesterday, Senator Risch and Representative Newhouse announced legislation that seeks to prevent the removal of the four lower Snake River dams, which have decimated Pacific salmon and steelhead populations for decades, in violation of U.S. Government treaties with Tribes, while producing a meagre 4% of the region’s power. Rather than addressing these challenges, the proposed legislation would increase costs by maintaining these aging dams and push Snake and Columbia River salmon closer to extinction.

“Over 70 years and $24 billion dollars in fish mitigation efforts at the lower Snake River dams have shown us that removal is the only viable option to avoid extinction and restore salmon to healthy and abundant levels. Of the 18 dams on the mainstem Columbia and lower Snake river, salmon demonstrably cannot co-exist with these four, which is evident from their continued ESA listing for over 30 years.” 

– Kayeloni Scott, Executive Director, Columbia Snake River Campaign

“The science is clear: restoring a healthy lower Snake River is absolutely necessary to protect its wild salmon and steelhead from extinction. The Risch/Newhouse proposal misses an enormous opportunity to build on historic progress recently achieved by Tribes and Northwest policymakers to develop and implement a comprehensive approach to recover imperiled salmon populations with shared solutions that replace existing dam services, create jobs, and invest in clean energy and modern infrastructure – ensuring a more prosperous future for communities here in the Northwest.”
– Joseph Bogaard, Executive Director, Save Our wild Salmon Coalition

“Sen. Risch and Rep. Newhouse’s legislation offers no solutions and attempts to lock in a failed and costly status quo. The courts have ruled six times that previous federal plans are inadequate and illegal. Fortunately Senator Murray, Rep. Simpson and the states of Washington and Oregon and others have demonstrated that we can responsibly replace the services provided by the dams, restore the Snake River, and meet ESA and treaty rights requirements. We can invest in better transportation and energy systems that create a stronger future that includes abundant salmon and healthy orcas.”
– Bill Arthur, Chair, Sierra Club Columbia/Snake River Salmon Campaign

“We remain committed to working with Governors Ferguson and Kotek, and policymakers of our region as we craft durable solutions that recover salmon and invest in our communities moving everyone forward together. We greatly appreciate the bipartisan leadership by policymakers in the Pacific Northwest recently to bring people together to develop lasting solutions that will protect Northwest’s native fish from extinction and restore them to healthy and abundant levels. We are excited to bring forward solutions that will provide much needed economic development, especially to rural parts of Washington. “

– Liz Hamilton, Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association