Wild Salmon & Steelhead News

Wild Salmon & Steelhead News is published regularly by the Save Our wild Salmon Coalition. Read on to learn about the Columbia-Snake River Basin’s endangered wild salmon and steelhead, the many benefits they deliver to people and ecosystems, and the extinction crisis they face today - unless we act! Find out how SOS is helping lead efforts to restore health, connectivity, and resilience to the rivers and streams these fish depend upon in the Columbia-Snake Basin and how you can get involved to help restore healthy, abundant, and harvestable populations and sustain more just and prosperous communities. To learn more and/or get involved, contact Martha Campos.

Table of Contents:

1. Connections and Community 
2. Court hears arguments for and against advocates’ request for improved dam operations to help endangered fish in the Columbia and Snake rivers in 2026 
3. Speak up for salmon and rivers during the Northwest Power and Conservation Council comment period!
4. Calling all artists! Northwest Artists Against Extinction Call for Art 2026
5. Join SOS and friends at upcoming advocacy events!
6. Salmon Media Round-up

1. Connections and Community 

Heritage Species © Annie Brulé

Like you, all of us at Save Our wild Salmon are dismayed by what we are seeing across the country – the escalating violence toward immigrants and communities fighting for the protection of human rights, and attacks on democracy and the environment.

What is happening in Minneapolis can and is spreading elsewhere, including the Northwest. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity affects the whole community – when people are afraid to leave home, it impacts schools, daycares, food banks, healthcare centers, and more. Other policies under the current administration call for continued rollback or threats to environmental protections, leaving communities even more vulnerable to health issues and the destruction of the land, waters, and wildlife that are crucial to our economy, culture, health, and well-being.

These issues are all connected. Protecting our neighbors, our communities, and our environment are concentric circles of care that overlap and intersect. In times of uncertainty and an unknown future, we can learn from nature about the resiliency to overcome difficulties and keep our hope and love alive.

In their migration journey, salmon and steelhead travel thousands of miles to reach the ocean and then back to their spawning grounds, giving their lives to people and many other species for sustenance and survival. Salmon deliver marine nutrients hundreds of miles from oceans to support and sustain a diversity of life in communities, rivers, streams, forests, and wildlife. Despite the barriers they encounter, salmon persevere and continue their ancient journey from river to ocean to river to sustain future generations of people, environment, and wildlife.

As salmon and steelhead sustain the next and future generations, we must too. Together, in solidarity, we can protect one another, salmon, rivers, and the environment from institutional violence. We must continue our strong advocacy to envision a world that liberates communities, rivers, salmon, and the environment, and to live freely, authentically, and with love at the center.

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2. Court hears arguments for and against advocates’ request for improved dam operations to help endangered fish in the Columbia and Snake rivers in 2026

Speakers and attendees at a press conference held in downtown Portland on Feb. 6, taking place prior to opening arguments for renewed litigation against the federal government to protect endangered salmon runs. Speakers included representatives from Yakama Nation, Earthjustice and the Northwest Energy Coalition. (Photo by Jarrette Werk, Underscore Native News)

Several Save Our wild Salmon staff joined other conservation and fishing advocates on February 6 to hear the oral arguments before the U.S. District Court in Portland. Plaintiffs led by Earthjustice, joined by the State of Oregon, are seeking emergency measures to protect imperiled fish populations that are harmed by the Columbia Basin federal hydro-system's dams and reservoirs.

After a four-year pause to allow time for negotiation and collaboration between the federal government and regional sovereigns/salmon advocates, litigation challenging the adequacy of the 2020 Federal Salmon Plan (Biological Opinion) was restarted after the Trump Administration terminated the historic Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement (RCBA) last June. The RCBA was first announced in 2023 by the Biden Administration and an alliance of Six Sovereigns: the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the states of Oregon and Washington.

The RCBA represented a critical first step toward realizing the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI), the comprehensive and holistic strategy developed by the Six Sovereigns to recover endangered Columbia Basin fish, invest in communities and infrastructure, and advance new clean energy resources. Despite the termination of the RCBA, the CBRI continues to be the Northwest’s most promising way forward to recover salmon, uphold our nation’s promises to Tribes, and invest in communities and our energy grid.

The termination of the RCBA is an enormous missed opportunity by the federal government to advance collaborative regional solutions, and it left salmon advocates no choice but to return to court and request interim emergency measures to prevent extinction and give these fish a fighting chance to survive and recover.

Attorneys for the plaintiff group represented by Earthjustice, the State of Oregon, the Nez Perce Tribe, the Yakama Nation, Washington State, and federal defendants provided oral arguments over three hours about the emergency injunctive measures that they have requested begin next month.

The 2026 migration season for Columbia and Snake river fish is fast-approaching. Juvenile fish will begin migrating to the ocean in March, about the same time that adult fish begin return to the river in search of their spawning gravels.

According to Earthjustice’s October 14 press release:

• The requested operational changes by plaintiffs are “science-based measures recommended by state and tribal fishery managers that change operations of the current Columbia Basin hydropower system to improve salmon survival as they migrate past dams and reservoirs in the Columbia and Snake Rivers. These changes include increased ‘spill,’ which allows juvenile fish to pass over the dams instead of through lethal turbines, and lowered reservoir elevations, which decreases the time salmon spend migrating through stagnant, overheated waters.”
• “The groups and Oregon are also requesting a set of emergency conservation measures for some of the most imperiled populations that are on the brink of collapse. These include removing passage barriers slowing the migration of Tucannon River spring Chinook, a population that is rapidly approaching extinction, as well as increasing federal efforts to control predators like invasive walleye and some birds that prey on salmon and steelhead.”

After the conclusion of oral arguments, the court encouraged parties to confer and identify common ground on the requested injunctive relief measures and to report back to the court by February 20, 2026. The judge indicated that he would issue a ruling soon afterward.

For more information on the Feb. 6 oral arguments, here are links to two media stories:

• AP: Oregon, Washington and tribes head back to court after Trump pulls out of deal to recover salmon
• Courthouse News: Judge eyes interim dam changes in revived Columbia Basin salmon fight

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3. Speak up for salmon and rivers during the Northwest Power and Conservation Council comment period!

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NPCC) is now in the process of updating its 5-year Fish and Wildlife Program – a regional plan for mitigating harm to endangered native fish caused by dam and reservoir operations in the Columbia and Snake River Basin.

With the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement abandoned by the current administration and efforts underway to weaken the Endangered Species Act, the NPCC 2026 Fish and Wildlife Program is one of the Northwest’s best opportunities to mitigate further harm to imperiled fish populations caused by hydropower operations in the Columbia Basin and make actionable progress towards recovery goals.

We are extraordinarily appreciative to all of you who have advocated during this current public comment process, whether you submitted a comment online, joined an in-person hearing, or shared this opportunity far and wide with your networks! We are almost at the finish line of this comment process (it closes on March 2!), but we need your help to submit a comment and/or testify at the last NPCC online hearing – on February 24 from 3:30 – 6:00 pm PST.

Please join us in urging NPCC to chart a course towards affordable, efficient, and reliable energy that also protects and restores abundant fish populations.

SUBMIT YOUR COMMENT TODAY to help ensure the Council’s final Fish & Wildlife Program includes:

• Elevated “spill” over the lower Snake and Columbia river dams through August 31 to protect out-migrating juvenile salmon and steelhead.

• Accountability for the Bonneville Power Administration to achieve Program goals and its legal obligation to protect and enhance fish populations impacted by the hydropower system.

• Acknowledges lower Snake River dam breaching as a necessary measure to achieve the Council’s 5 million fish goal – and protect Snake River fish from extinction.

Learn more about submitting a written comment at wildsalmon.org/NPCC

ATTEND THE ONLINE HEARING 

Speak up for salmon, rivers, and all who depend on them at NPCC’s last hearing online on February 24th at 3:30pm-6pm PST.

• Register by webinar using this link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the webinar. If you plan to comment, please send your full name and date of this webinar (February 24) to meetingorganizer@nwcouncil.org. Contact CouncilIT@nwcouncil.org with any technical questions.
• Let SOS know you are planning to testify here and we will share resources for the hearing. Thank you again for your advocacy! 

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4. Calling all artists! Northwest Artists Against Extinction Call for Art 2026

What can you do to make a difference in times like these? MAKE ART that inspires change! Northwest Artists Against Extinction and Save Our wild Salmon Coalition are launching our 2026 open call for Advocacy Art.

We're looking for artwork designed to move hearts and minds this year and in the upcoming fall election, reminding people what’s at stake in our Northwest home. Similar to 2024, we will develop a series of posters, swag, cards, postcards, and digital communications that urge people to keep salmon, orcas, and Tribal justice at the forefront of their hearts and minds when voting in 2026.

This opportunity is open to all artists and all mediums. Create something stunning and inspiring, or share this opportunity with the artists in your life. Submit your artwork by March 30, 2026.

Read more about the 2026 Advocacy Art Call and submission guidelines here.

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5. Join SOS and friends at upcoming advocacy events!

Southwest Washington Environmental Advocacy Brunch
When: Sunday, March 1st at 11am
Where: Hidden House Event Space, Vancouver, WA
What: Join us for a morning brunch bringing together environmental and politically engaged folks from across Southwest Washington. 

Come build community with fellow advocates working for a healthier and more sustainable Southwest Washington and connect with members and volunteers from groups like Vancouver Audubon Society, Washington Conservation Action, Save Our Wild Salmon, Loo Wit Group, and more.

RSVP TODAY!

Hear the People, Heal the River Virtual Action Hour
When: Tuesday, March 24th at 12:30 PT
Where: Zoom
What: Join us in taking collective action to protect salmon and defend the historic progress made towards salmon recovery by attending our monthly Virtual Salmon Advocacy Action Hours! In these action hours, you'll hear updates on issues impacting salmon recovery and the health of the Columbia and Snake rivers, ask questions, and, most importantly, get resources and information about how you can take action.

We hope to see you at these events and check out wildsalmon.org/events for updates on future events.

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6. Salmon Media Round-up

Here are a couple of recent stories about the urgency and opportunity today for salmon and orca recovery and river restoration:

News:

• KOMO News: New Southern Resident orca calf spotted in Strait of Juan de Fuca - Center for Whale Research biologists documented a brand new calf with L pod on February 16, 2026 near Race Rocks, in the Strait of Juan de Fuca (see photo on the right). The calf, designated L129, was travelling with L55 matriline, and was seen alongside both L55 herself and her daughter L103.

• Inlander: Salmon supporters lament a repeating cycle as a Northwest fish and wildlife plan still aims to restore runs after 40+ years

• Underscore News: Legal Battle Over Columbia Basin Dams Returns to Court

• Clearing Up: Judge Urges Mediation and Compromise Prior to CRSO Lawsuit Decision

• Columbia Insight: Trump kiboshed salmon recovery deal. Can this plan fill the gap?

• News Tribune: The ‘Six Sovereigns’ are fighting for the Columbia River basin’s future. Who are they?

LTEs

• Inlander: Federal agencies must agree to a workable plan to protect salmon in the Columbia Basin

• Columbian: Letter: Take care of the salmon

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Wild Salmon & Steelhead News is published regularly by the Save Our wild Salmon Coalition. Read on to learn about the Columbia-Snake River Basin’s endangered wild salmon and steelhead, the many benefits they deliver to people and ecosystems, and the extinction crisis they face today - unless we act! Find out how SOS is helping lead efforts to restore health, connectivity, and resilience to the rivers and streams these fish depend upon in the Columbia-Snake Basin and how you can get involved to help restore healthy, abundant, and harvestable populations and sustain more just and prosperous communities. To learn more and/or get involved, contact Martha Campos.

Table of Contents:

1. The fight for salmon, their rivers, and the spirit and identity of the Northwest.
2. Join in: Giving Tuesday (December 2) and SOS’ Year End Giving Campaign!
3. The path forward must be paved with facts and dialogue... not harmful and misleading soundbites!
4. The profound silence of a sick river.
5. Join the RECIPROCITY webinar with Rena Priest on 11/20 at 6pm PT!
6. 'And So it Flows' by Erik Sandgren, Northwest Artist Against Extinction collaborative partner
7. Welcome Tyler Troelsen, Western Washington Organizer!
8. Salmon media roundup

1. The fight for salmon, their rivers, and the spirit and identity the Northwest.

Pilgrimage, 2020, acrylic painting on birch panel, 24" x 30" © Josh Udesen

The past year has brought significant setbacks and challenges for salmon, their rivers, people, and our communities. Historic agreements have been dismantled, federal agencies gutted, and our lands, waters, and species are under attack. Meanwhile, our rivers are sick and getting sicker, with an historic drought, low snowpack, rising water temperatures, toxic algal blooms, and imperiled species struggling to survive.

And although the setbacks are heartbreaking, Save Our wild Salmon and Coalition Partners are fighting back—in our communities, in Washington D.C., in the courts, and across the region.

We're fighting to protect salmon and steelhead across the Columbia Basin, and given the challenging political landscape at the national level, we’re focusing more than ever to build power in the Pacific Northwest—to defend against attacks and to seize important opportunities that are essential for advancing long-term recovery priorities.

Actions and opportunities include the Northwest Power and Conservation Council's Fish and Wildlife plan, supporting partners' renewed litigation and emergency measures to provide immediate help for at-risk native fish, continuous engagement with policymakers, and strengthened grassroots advocacy.

We're embracing our strength and power together—to stand up collectively for what salmon need—now and in the future.

SOS team and partners travel to Washington D.C.:In early November, our team and advocates from across the Northwest met with members of Congress in our nation’s capitol! The team included an energy expert, partners from Idaho Rivers United and American Whitewater, a NextGen student leader, and SOS staff members Tanya Riordan and Abby Dalke. We traveled to D.C. to speak up for healthy and abundant salmon populations and the benefits to communities, cultures, and ecosystems across the Pacific Northwest.

Despite the historically long-running government shutdown and deeply disturbing political battles to keep people fed, provide access to healthcare, manage inflation, and secure appropriations for critical basic needs and services, members of Congress and their staff embraced our conversations regarding the crisis facing salmon and what they can do right now to help protect against further harm and extinction.

We shared deep concerns about the precarious status of salmon and steelhead across the Columbia-Snake rivers, and we asked for leadership and support to advance necessary solutions to save these iconic species at the heart of our region’s identity— and ensure they survive into the future.

It’s clear that our democracy and political system is very broken right now—but we also know our voice and advocacy does make a difference still, and engaging our policymakers matters!

We had many heartfelt and informative conversations—and we’re looking forward to continued coordination with members of Congress and many other policymakers to ensure we prioritize and advance meaningful solutions to restore our beloved salmon and steelhead—and honor the spirit and identity of the Northwest.

Columbia-Snake River Litigation: Salmon Advocates are back in Court!

Lower Snake River Dam © Ecoflight

The Columbia-Snake River Basin once sustained 10-16 million salmon and steelhead, and a wide variety of other native fish species. Today, over one-third of the historic salmon and steelhead populations are extinct, and many of those that remain are endangered and declining—due primarily to the harmful impacts of federal hydropower operations.

In 1991, Snake River sockeye salmon became the first Columbia Basin salmonid to be listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and in response, in 1992, the first legal action ensued.

Since then, 6 federal plans—required to address hydropower impacts and recover ESA-listed species—have been declared illegal and inadequate by a federal judge. Each time, the Court has requested the federal agencies to develop a new plan that complies with the law.

Meanwhile, in 2025, only 14 wild Snake River Sockeye salmon were able to reach their spawning grounds in central Idaho. Only 14! They are worse off now than when they were first listed as endangered, not better.

And now, following the Trump Administration’s abrupt and unilateral withdrawal from the historic agreement to restore Columbia basin and invest in communities, plaintiffs, led by Earthjustice, are left with no alternative but to return to court to seek critical near-term actions to improve the survival of out-migrating juvenile salmon and steelhead and adults returning to the river in search of their natal spawning beds.

In order to survive and recover, the Northwest's native fish need more dam spill and water flow during their migration - to cool waters and reduce travel time to the ocean. The emergency measures recently requested by the Plaintiffs in U.S. District Court include changes to dam operations to address these urgent needs, such as increased spill, lower reservoir levels, and other conservation measures.

Save Our wild Salmon Coalition is not an official party to the litigation, but many of the involved NGOs are Coalition Partners and we're actively supporting the Plaintiffs' request for the emergency measures necessary, and are strongly advocating for the urgent implementation—in time for upcoming 2026 spring salmon migration. Wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake rivers and their tributaries are running out of time.

Northwest Power and Conservation Council's new Fish & Wildlife Program:

In 1980, Congress passed the Northwest Power Act, triggered by the twin crisis of rapidly declining salmon populations in the Columbia-Snake Basin, (amid fears that salmon could be listed under the ESA), and the need for smart energy development and planning. The fears about the future of the fish were warranted, of course, and by 1999, a total of 13 Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead stocks had been listed under the Endangered Species Act.

The Northwest Power Act mandates that Columbia River power production and fisheries be managed as coequals and created the Northwest Power and Conservation Council—to develop and regularly update a Fish & Wildlife Plan and Regional Energy Plan to “protect, mitigate, and enhance” fish and wildlife populations in the Columbia-Snake Basin impacted by dams.

In 1987, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council set an interim annual goal of five million fish returning to the Basin. This goal was established to directly address the minimum (5-11 million fish) impacted by hydropower operations in the Columbia Basin. Current basin-wide returns (wild and hatchery fish) are less than half of that goal at about 2.3 million—nowhere near the 5 million interim goal, nor the historic abundance of 10-16 million.

Right now, the Council is working on amendments to update its Fish & Wildlife Program and is in the early stages of updating its Regional Energy Plan. As an initial step in the Fish & Wildlife Program, the Council received recommendations from state, federal, and Tribal fisheries managers, and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), among others.

BPA’s recommendations and their lack of accountability or interest to uphold their obligation to salmon was shocking. BPA requested the Council to abandon its long-held goal of 5 million adult salmon and steelhead returning annually to the Columbia Basin to spawn, and requested the Council to eliminate BPA’s legal obligation to meet any numerical goals the Council sets.

SOS and partners delivered a petition to the Council recently, with over 2,500 signers asking the Council to:

• Uphold the “interim goal” of 5 million adult salmon and steelhead returning annually to the Columbia Basin
• Analyze and prioritize changes in hydropower operations to speed smolt travel time from natal rivers to the ocean
• Include ALL recommendations from State and Tribal fisheries managers in the updated Fish and Wildlife Plan
• Affirm BPA’s responsibility to “protect, mitigate, and enhance” salmon populations “consistent with” the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program

Thank you to all who took action for fish & wildlife, and communities in the Columbia Basin! Stay tuned for upcoming advocacy opportunities and to provide feedback to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. A draft Fish and Wildlife Plan will be released soon, and a public comment period will be available to share your input.

A comprehensive Fish and Wildlife Plan that incorporates all the recommendations from State and Tribal Fishery managers is our best pathway forward right now to implement regionally supported, longer-term actions for salmon and steelhead throughout the Columbia Basin.

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2. Join in: for Giving Tuesday (December 2) and SOS’ Year End Giving Campaign!

Giving Tuesday is coming up on Dec. 2 – and it kicks off our year-end giving campaign. Your generous financial support is critical to ensuring that SOS has the resources we need to advance our work together to protect and restore rivers, salmon, and orcas, and defend the Pacific Northwest’s special way of life.

Together, we are working every day to defend our gains, create and seize new opportunities, and engage with Northwest people and policymakers for a brighter, more resilient, and more hopeful future with healthy rivers, thriving salmon, and the many gifts they bring.

With your help, we continue to lean into our strengths – collaborative leadership, education, inspiration and organizing, policy advocacy, and strategic communications. We’re focused on supporting and pressing key Northwest policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels to champion Columbia-Snake salmon and the Southern Resident orcas that rely upon them.

Thanks to your strong support and advocacy, SOS has made a real difference in 2025 – look for highlights of our shared accomplishments coming soon. Our work and program impact wouldn’t be possible without you, and we’re incredibly grateful for your support and partnership. Please donate to SOS today to help us carry our momentum into the new year!

GIVE TODAY!

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3. The path forward must be paved with facts and dialogue... not harmful and misleading soundbites!

The Six Sovereigns' State and Tribal Fishery Managers wrote a letter to Northwest River Partners and Northwest Public Power Association regarding their recent misleading ad campaign about the status of salmon returns in the Columbia Basin.

The letter focuses on clarifying the true status of distinct salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia Basin. The letter also encourages increased dialogue and agreement "on the challenges our region faces as we seek to chart a path forward for healthy, abundant salmon and steelhead populations and clean, reliable, and affordable energy. We share your priority of ensuring affordable and reliable energy in the Pacific Northwest.”

The Fishery Managers stated in the letter, "when it comes to characterizing the state of Columbia Basin salmon recovery – which our entities collectively assess and manage along with our federal colleagues and other regional sovereigns – we are less confident that we are operating from shared facts. Far from being recovered, many salmon stocks are at high risk of extinction, and most populations are far from sustainable healthy and abundant levels."

The false claims and misleading narrative on the status of salmon that is being pushed onto the public by heavily funded industry lobby groups is based on incomplete and misleading aggregate data and faulty comparisons from the 1930s.

The Fishery Managers explained, "aggregate dam counts provide useful information, but they are of limited value in assessing the status of the individual runs. Progress toward recovery is assessed on a stock-by-stock basis by looking at spawner counts. Based on these counts, most individual stocks of naturally reproducing salmon and steelhead in the interior Columbia Basin are struggling. While lumping together all fish passing various dams is an incomplete measure, total returns do provide a helpful snapshot within the broader context described above and with appropriate caveats. But comparing current total fish numbers with those observed in the 1930s does not provide an accurate picture."

To understand the urgency and crisis facing salmon, it's important to discuss the unique and specific status of each individual stock. Here are a few of the facts conveniently left out of the misleading ad campaign:

• The Columbia-Snake River Basin once sustained 10-16 million salmon and steelhead, and a wide variety of other native fish species. Today, over one-third of the historic salmon and steelhead populations are extinct, and many of those remaining are considered quasi-extinct.
• In 2025, only 14 wild Snake River Sockeye salmon were able to reach their spawning grounds in central Idaho.
• Snake River Spring/Summer Chinook is one of the species hovering closest to extinction, especially the Tucannon Spring Chinook population. In 2025, Fishery Managers relocated Tucannon stocks away from the Snake River as an emergency and high-risk measure, in an attempt to prevent the population from becoming extinct.
• Wild salmon returns to the Snake Basin are 0.1% to 2% of their historical abundance. The chart above depicts the status of each of the ESA-listed interior Columbia Basin Stocks. See Six Sovereigns' Fish Facts for current status of each ESA-listed Interior Columbia-Snake Basin Stocks)

Inaccurate and deceptive public advertising campaigns are as old as junk food, Coca-Cola, and cigarettes. And this case is no different. The harms caused to the public are longstanding and dangerous, and ultimately a roadblock to effective dialogue and building the necessary solutions to address large-scale and urgent issues. Much like the tobacco industry that used harmful advertising practices and catchy slogans to mislead the public – industry lobby groups are attempting to deceive the public about the crisis we and salmon are facing– instead of acknowledging the facts and bringing actual solutions and a spirit of true partnership and collaboration that move us ALL forward together.

Save Our wild Salmon and Coalition Partners will continue fighting for salmon, advocating for affordable and clean energy, and advancing solutions that work for all of the people and communities who rely on and cherish our river.

We invite the industry groups to join us in this effort and help pave the pathway forward with facts, meaningful solutions, and true collaboration!

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 4. The profound silence of a sick river.

Scott Putnam worked for decades as a Regional Wild Salmon and Steelhead Trout Fisheries Biologist. After retiring in Lewiston (ID) in December 2024, he’s spent much of his time documenting the presence of toxic algal blooms on the lower Snake River and their impact on fish and local communities. This past summer and fall, eleven toxic algal blooms were documented across the Columbia-Snake Rivers. Concerned about the effects of the toxic algal blooms and the need for additional public information, Scott created a 7-minute film, The Sound of Silence, Two Visions for One River, highlighting the profound silence of a sick river.

This is the third consecutive year of worsening toxic conditions across the lower Snake River. The four lower Snake River dams transformed this once highly productive river and prolific salmon migration corridor into a series of stagnant reservoirs, creating unhealthy, hot, toxic river conditions, including increasingly prominent and dangerous toxic algal blooms.

Toxic algal blooms contain microcystins, a liver toxin that can pose a significant health risk if touched, ingested, or inhaled. Microcystins are dangerous to people, pets, and imperiled salmon and steelhead. Health advisories posted warned people NOT to be in or even around the river, preventing access to important cultural, recreational, and economic activities and connection to the river.

Factors that contribute to these toxic blooms include high temperatures, hot and stagnant water conditions, and an influx of nutrients (namely nitrogen and phosphorus) usually entering via runoff. The combination of these conditions is most likely to materialize in late summer and early fall, when water and air temperatures are often at their highest (and precipitation and snowpack at their lowest). The lower Snake River dams create these conditions, forming slow-moving reservoirs that trap heat and toxic nutrients throughout the summer.

Toxic algal blooms and high water temperatures create dangerous conditions for migrating salmon and steelhead by increasing their susceptibility to infections, causing oxygen depletion, and slowing or stopping their migration entirely.

Toxic algal blooms are a strong indicator of the poor health of our river and ecosystem. As we’ve seen with other restored rivers such as the Klamath, when rivers function as they are meant to, with cold, free-flowing water and healthy habitats, they can heal and rapidly restore the balance of the ecosystem.

The question is, as Scott asked in The Sound of Silence, Two Visions for One River, “The Snake River’s unhealthy condition is serious enough and the timeframe for change short enough to warrant all parties come together now to effectively communicate and decide: Will society, including you, choose to restore the sounds of flowing waters, and with them, the health of the Snake River? Or, will society accept the river’s adulterations, substitutions, consequences, and with them, the sound of silence?

Watch and share the shorter versions of the film on SOS' social media and on Scott Putnam's YouTube channel: 

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5. Join the RECIPROCITY webinar with Rena Priest on 11/20 at 6pm PT! 

Join Raven Chronicles Press, North Cascades Institute, & SOS for a virtual evening with award-winning author and poet Rena Priest on November 20 at 6pm PT!

In her new book, Positively Uncivilized, Priest examines the impact of human inhabitants on the planet earth. Alongside personal accounts of the deterioration of salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest and the loss of Indigenous history, the twelve essays in her new collection emphasize the necessity of community to overcome the damage done by socioeconomic and political systems designed to isolate and silence those who are vulnerable to these unfair systems.

The 90-minute webinar will include a reading, a moderated discussion, and a Q&A with attendees. Sign up today to join the final RECIPROCITY webinar of 2025! Following your registration, a Zoom link will be sent directly to your inbox.

SIGN UP TODAY!

In October, SOS, Oregon Wild, and Washington Wild hosted the RECIPROCITY webinar featuring Lynda V. Mapes, award-winning journalist and author of The Trees are Speaking – Dispatches from the salmon forests.

We were honored and grateful to spend an evening with Lynda Mapes as she shared her journey to salmon forests of the east and west coasts, listening and learning from Indigenous Peoples, new foresters, and the ecosystems themselves. Throughout Lynda's presentation, we were inspired by her photographs of diverse landscapes and forests, and by her reflections on the connections we as humans have with forests, salmon, rivers, and the soil beneath our feet. Watch the recording here!

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6. And So it Flows
By Erik Sandgren, Northwest Artist Against Extinction collaborative partner
November 8, 2025

Deep Stream of Summer, watercolor ©Erik Sandgren

I have just returned, sated, to Portland from the Big Apple. For a month, I traded the Columbia, Tualatin, and Willamette Rivers of my neighborhood here for the Hudson, Delaware, and East River while visiting world-class exhibitions there. Art derives from both nature and other art, and so I have returned, like a salmon ready to spawn, to native waters with strong feelings and intention about how that urban and cultural stimulus will affect my studio practice here.

Fine Asian pieces in the Metropolitan Museum, ancient artifacts, some contemporary artists, and revisits with work of Cézanne, Ruth Asawa, John Marin, Wassily Kandinsky, Ben Shahn, and George Morrison have each spoken to me through their tough and honest confrontations with the art and nature of their times. Their various sensibilities consistently produced striking and highly individuated forms derived from their respective convictions about the world at large. Each has discernible arcs to their production as they mastered some things, became aware of others, and as their worlds changed around them.

For the Classical Chinese, what we call landscape painting is named by combining the characters for Mountain and Water. My own practice reflects this insight: alternating between water and rock: apparent flux and fluidity contrasting with relative fixity. The act of painting shifts constantly for me between the poles of touch and concept, object and space, observation and imagination. I constantly seek a resonant equilibrium between these antipodes.

Back home with Pacific Northwest waters, realizing esthetic form in the service of truth increasingly feels like an act of resistance and non-conformity. All the more reason to carry on.

And so it flows.

Erik recently concluded a solo show, “Ravens: Landscapes of Thought and Memory,” at Art Adventure Gallery in Madras, Oregon. Erik’s work can be seen at the “Naturally Northwest: Prints and Poems” exhibition with Northwest printmakers at the Grey Raven Gallery in Beaverton, OR, which opened on November 10th. In addition, find his work at The Portland Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery’s Member Artists 2025 Winter Show. And from March 4 – April 18, 2026, Erik will exhibit in a group show titled “Where We Belong,” at Karin Clarke Gallery in Eugene, OR.

We are deeply grateful to Erik for granting SOS permissions to gift a limited run of prints for a set of our supporters.

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 7. Welcome Tyler Troelsen, Western Washington Organizer!

Tyler Troelsen, Abby Dalke, and Joseph Bogaard at the Rise Up Northwest in Unity Convening, hosted by the Nez Perce Tribe and the Columbia Snake River Campaign.

We are excited to introduce a new staff member joining the team, Tyler Troelsen! Tyler is the Western Washington Organizer working for Save Our wild Salmon Coalition and Sierra Club.

Tyler is a lifelong Vancouverite with deep roots in Southwest Washington and a strong passion for environmental justice. Tyler graduated from the University of Washington, where he studied Political Science and Law, Societies, and Justice, with a minor in Spanish. His interest in politics and advocacy began at an early age, and his fieldwork began with door-to-door fundraising at age 19. He previously worked on the congressional campaigns of both Rep. Kim Schrier (2022) and Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (2023-2024), and he served as a session legislative aide to state Senator Rebecca Saldaña (2023). Most recently, he worked as Field Director for a successful ballot measure campaign to restore levy funding for Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries.

Now, Tyler focuses on building a broad, diverse coalition in Southwest Washington to support the recovery of wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River Basin and to protect public lands for future generations.

He enjoys swimming with his local team, running, reading, and spending time outdoors. Whether on the trail or at the doors, Tyler is driven by a vision of a more sustainable, equitable future for his home region.

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8. Salmon media roundup

Here are a couple of recent stories about the urgency and opportunity today for salmon recovery and river restoration:

Opinion:

• Spokesman-Review: Clean power and abundant salmon – both are possible written by Josh Mills, local fisherman and Mike Leahy, Senior Director of Wildlife, Hunting and Fishing Policy with the National Wildlife Federation.
• Spokesman-Review Letters to the Editor: Keep fighting to protect our beloved salmon written by Scott Putnam, Lewiston, Idaho
• Spokesman-Review Letters to the Editor: Impact of dams on the salmon written by Amy G. Mazur, Moscow, Idaho
• Everett Herald Guest Opinion: Scuttling Columbia Basin pact ignores peril to salmon written by Joseph Bogaard, executive director of Save Our wild Salmon Coalition
• Seattle Times Opinion: We’re back in court for Columbia Basin salmon’s survival written by Amanda Goodin, attorney with Earthjustice.
• Washington State Standard Opinion: Federal agencies need a workable plan to protect salmon in the Columbia Basin written by Marc Sullivan, western Washington coordinator at Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition.
• Spokesman-Review Guest Opinion: The importance of the Columbia River Treaty for our communities, economy and environment written by Tanya Riordan, Policy and Advocacy Director for the Save Our wild Salmon Coalition. Tom Soeldner, retired clergyman and educator who helps to coordinate the One River, Ethics Matter project and volunteers with the Sierra Club’s Columbia River Team.

News:

• Seattle Times: Oregon, environmental groups ask courts to help Columbia Basin fish
• KOMO News: Orca calf J-64 likely dead, Center for Whale Research to monitor future encounter
• OPB: Klamath River temperatures changed dramatically after dam removal. That’s helping salmon swim farther upstream

Documentaries:

• OPB documentary: First Descent: Kayaking the Klamath follows Indigenous kayakers on a historic journey after dam removal. The nonprofit Ríos to Rivers and its program Paddle Tribal Waters organized the expedition, which was the first source-to-sea descent of the Klamath since the removal of J.C. Boyle, Copco 1, Copco 2, and Iron Gate dams in 2023 and 2024.
• People of the Salmon, a public radio documentary and podcast by Jane Fritz and Justin Lantrip, explores the Nez Perce Tribe’s historical, cultural and spiritual connection to the five species of ocean-going salmon in the Columbia River system, the impacts from the eight dams on the rivers, and Nez Perce Tribal Fisheries restoration efforts. Learn more and listen to the podcast at mythweaver.org or on Spotify and Apple Podcasts under Voices of the Wild Earth.

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Wild Salmon & Steelhead News is published regularly by the Save Our wild Salmon Coalition. Read on to learn about the Columbia-Snake River Basin’s endangered wild salmon and steelhead, the many benefits they deliver to people and ecosystems, and the extinction crisis they face today - unless we act! Find out how SOS is helping lead efforts to restore health, connectivity, and resilience to the rivers and streams these fish depend upon in the Columbia-Snake Basin and how you can get involved to help restore healthy, abundant, and harvestable populations and sustain more just and prosperous communities. To learn more and/or get involved, contact Martha Campos.

Table of Contents:

1. A summer full of activism and connection with the land, water, salmon and community!
2. Our work ahead to recover healthy salmon, orca, and rivers
3. The RECIPROCITY webinar series is back for fall 2025! 
4. Honoring Dr. Jane Goodall (1934-2025)  
5. Salmon media roundup

1. A summer full of activism and connection with the land, water, salmon and community!

In these extraordinarily challenging times, SOS staff found solace, energy and inspiration this summer in the opportunity to connect with many community members across the Northwest and the healthy lands, clean waters, and fish and wildlife we all hold dear.

In August, Tanya Riordan, Abby Saks, and Abby Dalke gathered on the banks of the lower Snake River near Lewiston to prepare for the annual flotilla hosted by our good friends and allies at Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment (read more about it below!). We were scurrying around to set up, when we were stopped in our tracks by a mesmerizing flock of swallows flying above our heads. Swooping and swirling in every which way, the birds were flying in a jumbled yet also highly coordinated and unified pattern. This spectacular sight, Tanya shared with us, is called murmuration. The birds moving en masse offer several key survival tactics – safety in numbers; leading the flock to roost, staying warmer together at night; and a visual invitation to straggling birds to join the flock. While we stood in awe, we were reminded of an important lesson: the power of the flock; the strength in community and the profound impact of collective care for one another.

This issue of the News recaps and highlights just a few of our activities this past summer - getting our hands dirty and feet wet in the Columbia Basin. Thank you to those who were able to join us at various events. As always, consider this your invitation to join our flock at future events, too. You are always welcome.

Envisioning a Restored Snake River Flotilla led by Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment - August 15-16.

In mid-August, hundreds of community members gathered at Hells Gate State Park near Lewiston, Idaho, to envision a free-flowing lower Snake River. Advocates floated along the Snake River, encircling a "Free the Snake" banner while Tribal leaders spoke to the urgent need to restore the river and uphold our nation's longstanding promises to Indigenous People in the Snake River Basin and beyond. Nez Perce Elders welcomed Tribal canoe families ashore, followed by other participants of this year's flotilla. Ashore, we heard Indigenous leaders' stories about salmon's profound significance in Tribal communities, and the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI) and how it will benefit salmon, ecosystems, and Tribal and non-Tribal communities alike. This powerful gathering culminated with a call to action - that participants contact their members of Congress and other policymakers to urge them to support the implementation of the CBRI and restore salmon abundance across the Basin.

Flights above the Snake River Basin with EcoFlight - August 13-14.

With the help of our coalition partners at EcoFlight, we hosted several flyovers of the Snake River Basin to help policymakers better understand this river and the surrounding landscape as well as the urgency and opportunity presented by lower Snake River restoration. Boarding a small six-passenger plane, we took off with policymaker staff, Tribal leaders, an energy expert, and a local farmer. Looking down at the reservoir behind Lower Granite Dam, we spotted a spreading toxic algal bloom - another sign of the river's degraded health. We veered south, flying over the Tucannon River, that flows into a warm, stagnant reservoir on the lower Snake. The Tucannon represents an urgent and compelling case study. This river demonstrates that the most advanced tributary habitat restoration efforts cannot protect imperiled salmon if out-migrating smolts must run the gauntlet through multiple, hot, stagnant reservoirs filled with non-native predator fish during their journey to the Pacific Ocean.

Huge appreciation to EcoFlight for helping us all see the Basin from a new perspective!

Sawtooth Salmon Fest hosted by Idaho Rivers United (IRU) and the Sawtooth Interpretive & Historical Association (SIHA) - August 26-28.

As August came to an end and Idaho’s salmon persevered through their 900-mile journey home to the heart of the Rocky Mountains, we joined friends and allies in Stanley, Idaho for Sawtooth Salmon Fest, an annual event hosted by IRU and SIHA celebrating this epic migration. Before the festival began, IRU’s Tom Stuart and Stephen Pfeiffer led us on a search for spawning salmon along the banks of the Salmon River and its tributaries. Originally named for the bright red sockeye that once filled its waters during spawning season, Redfish Lake and other Stanley Basin lakes that the Salmon River flows from saw a combined 14 wild salmon return in 2025. Our struggle to find any sockeye (wild or otherwise) swimming upstream was a stark reminder of the multitude of obstacles that Idaho’s salmon must overcome to return and spawn, including and especially the eight dams and 140 miles of hot, toxic, and stagnant reservoir waters on the lower Snake River between the Tri-Cities and Lewiston, ID.

Our time at Sawtooth Salmon Fest itself was absolutely energizing. We connected with all sorts of amazing community members through a very popular activity, creating beautiful works of salmon art. Over a hundred participants joined us to use Northwest Artists Against Extinction-designed stencils to create salmon prints. It was a beautiful way to end the weekend: gathering in community and creating advocacy art for salmon, while the Sawtooth Mountains stood in the backdrop and the Salmon River flowed freely right behind us.

Thank you to IRU and SIHA for hosting this amazing event, and we hope to see you all at Sawtooth Salmon Fest next year!

The Way of the Masks Journey led by Se’Si’Le - September 9-20.

In September, SOS was proud to support and participate in Se'Si'Le's 'Way of the Masks' journey as it toured through the Pacific Northwest, featuring powerful cultural events rooted in Indigenous artistry and environmental activism. The tour's message: protecting ancient forests is not just good policy — it's an integral part of Indigenous identity, our Northwest legacy, and our shared responsibility. Carved by Lummi Nation Master Carver Jewell James, a 12-foot cedar totem pole adorned with Coast Salish stories and symbols served as a striking visual and call-to-action for protecting our most sacred forests and the wild salmon that depend on them.

At each stop, local and Indigenous speakers shared heartfelt stories, prayers, music, and calls to action to protect ancient forests, wild salmon, and our Northwest home. Eight beautiful wooden masks, also hand-carved by Jewell James, was gifted in each location to a community leader who has played a key role in forest and salmon protection efforts.

Check out SOS' Events page to join events near you!  

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2. Our work ahead to recover healthy salmon, orca, and rivers

Thanks to your ongoing support and advocacy, we're making a strong and stead impression on regional policymakers and influential stakeholders and partners. Working with allies across the Northwest, we organized dozens of meetings and many thousands of grassroots/citizen contacts with Members of Congress, governors and local elected officials - urging them to defend our Northwest values and work collaboratively and consistently toward a more prosperous future for all, with healthy waters and abundant fish in the Columbia-Snake Basin.

Here are some recent developments and updates on the status of our rivers, endangered salmon and steelhead, and Southern Resident orcas, and our work ahead to protect and restore a healthier and more resilient Columbia-Snake Basin and Pacific Northwest.

Tragic death of a Southern Resident calf:

On September 12, Alki (J36) was observed by researchers at the Center for Whale Research carrying a dead female neonate calf with its umbilical cord still attached. This was not her first loss. Alki’s 2-year-old son Sonic (J52) died in 2017, and she is known to have experienced multiple miscarriages in recent years. We will never know for certain the exact cause of this calf's death, but we do know that the lack of salmon continues to be the single greatest threat to the survival of the Southern Resident orcas. Despite many years of effort to better protect Southern Resident orcas and many populations of Pacific Northwest salmon, both continue to teeter on the brink of extinction. These tragic deaths of the Southern Residents underscore the urgent need to rebuild abundant salmon populations in the Columbia-Snake Basin and across the Pacific Northwest. Scientists agree that rebuilding Spring/Summer chinook salmon in the Snake River Basin is essential priority to protect orcas from extinction. Removing the four lower Snake River dams represents our nation's greatest river/salmon restoration opportunity anywhere on the West Coast.

Dangerous water conditions in the lower Snake River:

This summer, all eight lower Columbia and Snake River reservoirs experienced sustained water temperatures above 68°F – the biological and legal limit scientists tell us is needed to protect cold water fish like salmon and steelhead from harm or death.

The hot water temperatures now regularly occurring in the summer months in the Columbia and Snake rivers impact the behavior, reproductive success, and survival of all upriver populations of salmon and steelhead. At a minimum, elevated water temperatures can significantly delay in their migration journey to Idaho. At higher temperatures, impacts can worsen and include disease, degraded egg and milt quality, and death. Hot water impacts on salmon and steelhead behavior and health can also impact Tribal and non-tribal fisheries, harming these communities and economies. 

The lower Snake River reservoirs also now routinely test positive for microcystins in the summer and fall months. Microcystins are a toxin that can harm the liver and is commonly responsible for human and animal poisonings, and habitat degradation. Already under stress due to warm temperatures in all eight reservoirs, salmon and steelhead must now also migrate through toxic algal blooms that can cause dangerous oxygen depletion and changes in pH levels.

Sovereigns and NGOs return to court to protect imperiled salmon and steelhead:

On September 11, a coalition of conservation, fishing, and clean energy groups, along with the states of Oregon and Washington and four Lower Columbia River Treaty Tribes, filed a motion with the U.S. District Court in Portland to lift a stay or pause in litigation that had been put in place as part of the historic Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement (RCBA).

Across nearly three decades of litigation, three different federal district court judges have declared six federal dam management plans inadequate and illegal for protecting imperiled wild salmon and steelhead populations in the Snake and Columbia rivers as required by federal law. The most recent 2020 federal salmon/dams plan, developed during the first Trump Administration, is no exception. Plaintiffs in the case - the Nez Perce Tribe, the state of Oregon and conservation and fishing NGOs led by Earthjustice - made a decision to pause this long-running litigation in 2021 and work with the Biden Administration with the hope of developing a durable, long-term solution to protect and restore endangered wild salmon and steelhead populations. Then in December 2023, the Biden Administration and Northwest Tribes, states, and stakeholders announced the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement. The RCBA represented a first significant step toward implementing a comprehensive and collaborative plan to protect and rebuild salmon abundance, expand clean energy resources, honor Tribal treaty rights, and restore healthy ecosystems while supporting a robust Pacific Northwest economy. Importantly, the agreement included planning and funding to replace the services provided by the lower Snake River dams.

However, in June 2025, the Trump Administration suddenly terminated the RCBA and walked away from this historic collaboration to recover the Northwest's native fish, invest in communities and begin to solve some longstanding regional problems. Without the agreement in place, plaintiffs have been left with no alternative but to return to court to challenge the inadequate 2020 federal salmon plan and to ask the court to require critical near-term changes in the operations of the dams and reservoirs to provide urgently-needed survival benefits for migrating salmon and steelhead. See this factsheet for additional details on the status of fish populations.

Save Our wild Salmon Coalition deeply appreciates the leadership of the plaintiffs, and we hope the court acts expeditiously to approve the urgent measures needed to improve the dismal survival rates of salmon and steelhead in time for the upcoming 2026 spring-summer migration season.

Read more:

• Idaho River United News: IRU Returns to Court to Defend Snake River Salmon & Steelhead
• Earthjustice Press Release: Groups Return to Court to Protect Imperiled Columbia Basin Salmon
• The Oregonian Opinion: Back to court, but our regional work to protect salmon will continue

Congressional hearing on the harmful bill “Defending Our Dams Act” - Sept. 4:

On September 3, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries held a hearing for the “Defending our Dams Act” (H.R. 2073), introduced earlier this year by Rep. Newhouse (WA-04). If passed, the legislation would stop progress to restore a freely flowing lower Snake River restoration by prohibiting federal funds or activity to understand and/or study lower Snake River dam removal or service replacement. H.R. 2073 would also prevent the implementation of the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI) — the comprehensive strategy developed by the Six Sovereigns to recover salmon abundance in the Columbia basin while investing in clean and affordable energy, healthy communities, and modernized infrastructure.

Salmon and fishing advocates thank Representatives Huffman, Hoyle, Randall, and Stansbury of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee for attending this important hearing and voicing their strong opposition to this harmful legislation. Here are a few quotes from the hearing:

• Representative Huffman: “In December of 2023, four Tribes, two States, five federal agencies, and nonprofits all reached a historic agreement on Columbia River salmon restoration…called the Resilient Columbia Basin agreement. President Trump blew that up in June with this Presidential Memorandum entitled ‘Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Generate Power for the Columbia River Basin’... there's nothing radical about honoring tribal treaty rights or wanting functional salmon runs that people can actually fish, or building clean energy to address all climate change and salmon extinction.
• Representative Hoyle: “Unfortunately, I can't get behind the fact that HR 2073 would ban studies into what it would take to replace or modify these dams, but we shouldn't tie our own hands for being able to research their impacts, even while we acknowledge that right now, there is no other way to replace that power.”
• Representative Stansbury: “It's important to understand that there has been decades of litigation on the lower Snake River to ensure that the historic damming of those rivers that impact the salmon fisheries that are subject to numerous treaties of our Tribes and the federal trust responsibility are rectified. At the end of the day, this is not just about the restoration of that vast watershed and the river and ecosystem that it sustains, but it is also compliance with both federal law and tribal trust and treaty responsibilities. I humbly but emphatically oppose that bill.”

Nez Perce Tribal Chairman Shannon F. Wheeler also testified at the hearing, asking Congress to reject the bill. “The wild runs are indeed in dire straits,” said Chairman Wheeler. “This bill would tie the hands of federal agencies and set the United States on an unambiguous course to destroy wild Snake River salmon runs, which would abrogate our Treaty-reserved rights to fish in all our usual and accustomed fishing areas.” Chairman Wheeler reminded Congress that the dams block access to some of the most pristine salmon and steelhead habitat in the Lower 48, and that the health, culture, and treaty rights of Columbia Basin Tribes are inseparable from the survival of wild fish runs.

We thank Chairman Wheeler and all who contacted their representatives to oppose this bill and called upon them to work collaboratively to implement the CBRI, the only existing plan today that comprehensively addresses the issues facing salmon, the health of our rivers, community needs, and infrastructure. The CBRI represents an historic opportunity for the people of the Northwest and nation - and we all need to work together to support the Six Sovereigns leadership in collaboration with others in the region to move it forward.

Act Now! Petition to restore the Columbia Basin's native fish and hold BPA accountable:

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council is now working on amendments to update its region-wide Fish and Wildlife Program. As an initial step in this process, the Council solicited recommendations from state, federal and tribal fisheries managers and accepted recommendations from others, including the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). BPA recommended that the Council abandon its long-held goal of seeing 5 million adult salmon and steelhead returning annually to the Columbia Basin to spawn. BPA further called on the Council to affirm that BPA was under no legal obligation to meet any numerical goal the Council might set.

In response, Save Our wild Salmon Coalition and partners released a petition calling on the Council to reassert its intended leadership role in undoing the vast damage hydropower development has done to fish and wildlife throughout the region and to hold BPA accountable to honor its legal obligations. Please add your name to the petition! Thank you all for signing and sharing the petition!

Sign the Petition 

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3. The RECIPROCITY webinar series is back for fall 2025! 

Join Oregon Wild, Washington Wild & SOS on October 23 at 6pm PT for the second fall installment of RECIPROCITY featuring award-winning Seattle Times reporter and author Lynda V. Mapes!

Lynda Mapes recently published The Trees are Speaking: Dispatches from the salmon forests, an essential read for those with a deep interest in environmental stewardship, Indigenous land rights, sustainable communities and the urgent challenges posed by climate change. With vibrant storytelling supported by science and traditional ecological knowledge, Mapes will share a call to rethink our relationship with forests and invite us into a world where trees are kin, not commodities.

Register for the Webinar here 

Last month, we were honored to hear from Dr. Christopher J. Preston, who spoke about his latest book, Tenacious Beasts, which brings to life nature’s formidable resilience through successful recovery stories from wolves in Europe, bison on America’s Great Plains, and humpback whales in the Atlantic and Pacific. We’re grateful to Dr. Preston for sharing the evening with us, full of optimism as well as guidance about how we might live more harmoniously alongside our animal kin. If you missed it, you can watch the webinar recording here.

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4. Honoring Dr. Jane Goodall (1934-2025)

Dr. Jane Goodall is widely known for her groundbreaking research on chimpanzees and unconventional approach, by Western scientific standards at the time, to learn from nature, acknowledging, for example, that the chimpanzees were astutely watching her, too. While the salmon ecosystems of the Northwest may seem far from the forests of Gombe, her deep commitment, vision, wisdom and humanity has moved and inspired millions of people here and across the planet. Dr. Goodall had an infectious, innate love for all that is living and a deep understanding of what it means to be a part of nature. She inspired countless people to get outside, poke around in nature, and ultimately grow into strong environmental leaders. Not only did she fundamentally change the way we, as humans, understand ourselves, she also paved the way for young leaders in science. Dr. Goodall's legacy offers us all an enduring gift of perseverance, patience, and hope.

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5. Salmon media roundup

News:

• Moscow-Pullman: Tribes, states push to revive Snake and Columbia River salmon lawsuit after Trump order
• Capital Press: Governors respond to ad placed by dam advocates
• The Seattle-Times: Legal battle reignites over Lower Snake River Dams, salmon
• WA State Standard: Lawsuits against federal government over Columbia Basin dams to resume
• Daily Astorian: Oregon, tribes return to court to save Columbia River salmon from extinction
• Columbia Gorge News: Lummi Nation totem pole visits Hood River, drums up opposition to potential roadless rule recission
• News Data: Klamath River Water Temperatures Responding to Dam Removal

Opinion:

• Idaho Statesman: Opinion: Snake River salmon lawsuits were on hold. Now we have to resume
• The Oregonian: Opinion: Back to court, but our regional work to protect salmon will continue
• The Columbian: In Our View: Salmon policy ill-conceived, puts process in reverse
• NewsData: Guest Column: The Righteous Shall Prevail, or Perhaps Fail?
• The Spokesman-Review: Breach the dams save the ecosystem
• The Spokesman-Review: Clean water the answer to salmon recovery

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Wild Salmon & Steelhead News is published regularly by the Save Our wild Salmon Coalition. Read on to learn about the Columbia-Snake River Basin’s endangered wild salmon and steelhead, the many benefits they deliver to people and ecosystems, and the extinction crisis they face today - unless we act! Find out how SOS is helping lead efforts to restore health, connectivity, and resilience to the rivers and streams these fish depend upon in the Columbia-Snake Basin and how you can get involved to help restore healthy, abundant, and harvestable populations and sustain more just and prosperous communities. To learn more and/or get involved, contact Martha Campos.

Table of Contents:

1. Remembering long-time salmon advocate and SOS Board Member Joel Kawahara
2. Pilgrimage to the Klamath Basin, by Abby Dalke, SOS Outreach Coordinator 
3. Salmon and fishing advocates applaud legal challenge to BPA’s misguided markets decision 
4. What’s next for Columbia Basin salmon? Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Fish & Wildlife Program  
5. A Majestic Matriarchy – Indigenous women shared inspiration and action for orcas and salmon 
6. Hot Water Report 2025: Snake River salmon and steelhead are in hot water – and toxic algal blooms 
7. Keeping the Pressure on Congress
8. Join SOS for The Way of the Masks Tour – September 7-20 – coming to a Northwest town near you!
9. Salmon media roundup

1. Remembering long-time salmon advocate and SOS Board Member Joel Kawahara

It is with the heaviest of hearts that we mourn the loss of Joel Kawahara, our dear friend, long time SOS board member, and tireless advocate for salmon. Joel's beloved salmon troller, the F/V Karolee, was recovered on August 13 by the Coast Guard and he was not on board.

This is a devastating loss. Joel was the very best of us – the most brilliant, generous, humble, compassionate, kind, thoughtful man and colleague and friend. He worked in service of salmon and their needs for as long as he fished. Joel was tireless as an advocate for salmon, their rivers, and the communities that salmon support, as reported in a Seattle Times article sharing the news of his passing: "They remember him as a bit of a Renaissance man, in touch with the water and deeply invested in his relationships and his duty to advocate for his industry, the salmon and habitat they rely upon. Kawahara testified before elected leaders about the impacts of hydroelectric dams on salmon, volunteered at streamside tree plantings and often fed his community with fresh-caught fish and oysters from his beach on Hood Canal or treats from his garden."

Joel served on the SOS board since the beginning in 1991, was the President of the Coastal Trollers Association, and was an active volunteer with the North Olympic Salmon Coalition. We need more Joels in the world today, not fewer. His absence will leave an immense hole in the fishing and salmon advocacy communities, and in our hearts. Joel’s guidance and leadership for our work will be deeply missed, but forever honored and remembered. A memorial site has been set up to share memories and condolences.

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2. Pilgrimage to the Klamath Basin, by Abby Dalke, SOS Outreach Coordinator

Earlier this month, I had the privilege of visiting the Klamath Basin – the ecosystem now known for the world’s largest salmon restoration project. The vision for my road trip was simple: travel from the headwaters of the Klamath River in Southern Oregon to its mouth at the ocean. Along the way, I hoped to learn from the leaders behind this historic effort, culminating in the Paddle Tribal Waters celebration in Klamath, California.

My first stop was Mt. McLoughlin. After a long day’s hike, I looked out over the basin, reflecting on the nearly 500 miles of newly free-flowing river and all the species and communities that rely on it. From there, I tried my hand at fly fishing in Spencer Creek (known for one of the first sightings of salmon returning). That night, I camped near the former J.C. Boyle Dam site, falling asleep to the sound of rushing water. The loud hum of the river filled me with gratitude and hope for the restoration I was seeing (and hearing) before me.

A few podcasts and a trail run through the Redwoods later, I arrived at the Paddle Tribal Waters Celebration, hosted by Rios to Rivers. Indigenous people from around the world gathered to share stories of preserving sacred spaces, and wisdom of honoring rights of nature. The energy of hundreds of people celebrating this historic moment was powerful beyond words.

My final stop was the estuary, where the river meets the sea. The sandbar stretched across the delta looked different from photos I had seen before – a reminder of the ever-changing landscape. I stood in awe thinking of the salmon that, generation after generation, continue to find the narrow channel, only 50 feet wide at most, to make their return to their ancestral spawning grounds.

A visit to the Klamath Basin will surely leave you feeling small in space and time, a humble and grounding reminder. After a century, the anadromous fish in the Klamath Basin can again return to their ancestral spawning grounds, and the ecosystem and river communities are rejoicing with the healing underway. This movement led by Indigenous leaders, the Yurok and Klamath Tribes, and river stewards and advocates, is guided full circle by the return of the salmon. A true testament to resilience.

Read more about the renewal of the Klamath Basin and the Paddle Tribal Waters gathering:

• Washington Post: Indigenous Teens Make First Descent of A Sacred River Finally Flowing Free
• OPB: Global solidarity at the mouth of the Klamath
• New York Times: First Time in 100 Years: Young Kayakers on a Ride for the Ages
• San Francisco Chronicle: First salmon swims all the way to Oregon after historic California dam removal

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3. Salmon and fishing advocates applaud legal challenge to BPA’s misguided markets decision

When the Bonneville Power Administration announced its intention to join an Arkansas-based energy trading market called Markets+, many observers found the decision baffling. Now, five Northwest advocacy groups have challenged the decision as unlawful.

The plaintiffs, represented by Earthjustice, have asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to review BPA’s market decision. Plaintiffs include three Save Our wild Salmon Coalition member groups: Sierra Club, NW Energy Coalition, and Idaho Conservation League.

The petition to the Court charges that by choosing a market consistently found to be more costly than the alternative California-based Extended Day Ahead Market (EDAM), BPA has violated the direction the Northwest Power Act gave Bonneville to prioritize the most cost-effective energy resources. The plaintiffs also state that BPA has failed to do a required analysis of the foreseeable environmental impacts the decision to join Markets+ would have, which the agency is obligated to do under the National Environmental Policy Act.

In a press release, SOS praised the groups challenging BPA’s decision, saying, “The Save Our wild Salmon Coalition appreciates the leadership and decision by conservation and clean energy advocates to file a lawsuit challenging the Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA) decision to join the Southwest Power Pool’s Markets+ day-ahead energy trading market.”

SOS Executive Director Joseph Bogaard was quoted, saying, “BPA’s choice of Markets+ over the alternative Extended Day Ahead Market (EDAM) is inexplicable on multiple levels – system reliability, integration of new renewable energy, impacts on energy costs and imperiled Northwest salmon and steelhead – and we applaud the groups that have stepped up to advocate for the best interest of our region to take this legal action.”

The people of the Northwest need BPA to be a collaborative partner in our region rather than prioritizing the agency’s narrower interests and go-it-alone approach. Now more than ever, we need BPA leadership to be part of a holistic solution that addresses the federal hydro-system's impacts on salmon, invests in new transmission and clean energy resources, and maintains affordability. It’s unfortunate that legal action is necessary to ensure BPA lives up to its public responsibilities, honors Tribal Treaty rights, and considers the best interests of regional residents (and energy customers) and our clean energy and salmon recovery needs.

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4. What’s next for Columbia Basin salmon? Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Fish & Wildlife Program

In June, the Trump Administration withdrew from the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement (RCBA), undermining an historic and comprehensive approach to protect and recover imperiled salmon and invest in communities, clean energy and other critical infrastructure. This development was disappointing but not surprising.

Advocates for recovering endangered species, restoring healthier and more resilient ecosystems, and honoring our nation’s treaty obligations will seek progress in other arenas for the foreseeable future. One venue may very well be in court. The RCBA was an agreement reached between the federal government and six Northwest states and Tribes. One key element in the broad-reaching Agreement was a pause in litigation that was under way at the time to challenge an inadequate and illegal 2020 federal salmon plan that had been finalized in 2020 toward the end of the first Trump Administration. Although Save Our wild Salmon is not among the plaintiffs, ten of SOS’ coalition members are.

One arena that presents a critical opportunity for regional progress on salmon recovery is the update of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s (Council) Fish and Wildlife Program that is currently underway. As directed by the 1980 Northwest Power Planning and Conservation Act, that program has the mission to “protect, mitigate, and enhance” fish and wildlife populations impacted by dams and their reservoirs in the Columbia-Snake River Basin.

The Council updates its F&W Plan followed by its Energy Plan every five years. As a first step in this process earlier this year, the Council sought recommendations from federal, state, and tribal fisheries agencies and other parties. Dozens of detailed recommendations were submitted, but it was the Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA) that genuinely shocked salmon and clean energy advocates.

In their recommendations, BPA claims that the Council’s well researched and widely accepted estimate of pre-development salmonid returns to the Columbia Basin – 10-16 million adult fish annually – was grossly overstated. BPA also asserted that the Council exaggerates the role played by Columbia Basin dams and their reservoirs to diminish salmon runs, and that, as a result, Bonneville is shouldering an unfair burden of responsibility by being required to mitigate for, according to the federal power marketing agency, non-hydro related sources of mortality.

In keeping with BPA’s long history of poor natural resource stewardship as outlined in a joint Op-Ed by SOS and Sierra Club, BPA told the Council it should abandon its long-standing interim goal of 5 million adult salmon and steelhead returning to the river each year in favor of “no numerical salmon abundance goal.” Finally, BPA stated that if the Council insists on maintaining a numerical goal, it should (i) lower it significantly and (ii) concede that BPA had no legal obligation to meet, or even attempt to meet, that goal.

When the Council more recently sought public comments on these recommendations that it received, SOS responded with comments rebutting BPA’s assertions and strongly opposing its recommendations. Our comments highlighted what the Council should do and concluded that “The Council’s leadership at this time is essential and appreciated.”

SOS will continue to engage in this critical process in the coming months, as will our member organizations and their activists and supporters. Stay tuned for updates and next steps!

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5. A Majestic Matriarchy – Indigenous women shared inspiration and action for orcas and salmon

In June, several hundred people gathered at St. Joseph Parish in Seattle to listen and learn from the heartfelt words, visions, and voices of Indigenous women leaders from around the Northwest.

A Majestic Matriarchy was a meditative and inspiring evening woven together by experiences from Indigenous women from across the Pacific Northwest region who are leading the effort to protect and recover imperiled Southern Resident orcas and the Snake and Columbia river salmon they depend upon. This powerful event was presented by Se’Si’Le, an Indigenous-led nonprofit based in Washington State, with support from Save Our wild Salmon and a coalition of NGOs and faith-based partners.

With bellies full of Eva’s Wild delicious sockeye salmon, we heard from artists, faith leaders, policy experts, community organizers, and change makers. Their diversity of experiences and perspectives spoke in concert to the importance of healing and renewing our connection with ourselves, our communities, and the ecosystems upon which we all – like salmon and orca – depend.

At the end of the program, we called on Washington’s Governor Ferguson and Members of Congress to ensure that Washington State remains a champion for a robust implementation of the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI). The CBRI is the comprehensive roadmap for salmon recovery and community investment recently developed by the ‘Six Sovereigns.’ It is a regionally generated plan to restore healthy and abundant salmon, to protect the Southern Resident orcas and many other fish and wildlife populations that benefit from salmon abundance, and to honor our nation’s promises to Tribal nations. You can lend your voice too – send a message to your elected leaders today!

“Art can break your heart at first, but then, it helps you see in a new way. [We can] move from sadness to understanding, and to action, and that’s how change begins.” – Fia De La O, Quechua, Artist and Third-year Bachelor of Applied Science student in Environmental Conservation at Skagit Valley College

“I’m so grateful I’m not on this trek alone. I didn’t have to start from scratch, thanks to the warriors before us and the champions that are still fighting the good fight. I already have the next generation coming forward to help pick up our pace and the orca and salmon haven’t given up yet.” – Kayeloni Scott, Spokane Tribal Member with strong Nez Perce ancestry. Executive Director, Columbia Snake River Campaign

The powerful convening will continue in September through the Way of the Masks tour, which will honor the ancestral Indigenous knowledge that all things are related to, and through, xaalh: a sacred balance of life. See below for more details on these upcoming events.

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6. Hot Water Report 2025: Snake River salmon and steelhead are in hot water – and toxic algal blooms 

In July, Save Our wild Salmon and 10 allied NGO partners kicked off our 10th annual series of the Hot Water Report. The Hot Water Report tracks water temperatures in real-time through the summer in the lower Snake and lower Columbia River reservoirs and elevates the consequences of the increasingly harmful impacts of high water temperatures and a changing climate on already-endangered cold water fish.

Three issues have been published so far this summer – the first dives into how the lower Snake and Columbia River dams have transformed a once-highly-productive healthy and free-flowing river into a series of large, warm, stagnant, seasonally toxic reservoirs that harm salmon and steelhead and severely impact their migration, reproductive success, and habitat quality.

Issue #2 focuses on the combined effects of hot, stagnant, and toxic water on salmon, humans, other animals, and ecosystems. The report also focuses on the path to recovery through the collaborative implementation of the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI).

Our current issue spotlights Idaho Department of Health's recent health advisory, warning of “dangerous levels of toxin producing algae” in Brownlee and Hells Canyon reservoirs along the Snake River. We report on the status of Columbia/Snake River salmon and steelhead, featuring the Columbia Snake River Campaign's recent webinar with Jay Hesse, Director of Biological Services, Nez Perce Tribe Department of Fisheries Resources Management.

A recent article in the Columbian highlighted the role that the Hot Water Report plays in drawing attention to the triple threat today of heat, stagnant waters, and toxic algal blooms to salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake rivers. “For [SOS executive director Joseph] Bogaard, the purpose of the Hot Water Report is explaining the extent of the crisis salmon face and highlighting solutions that government research has found will increase their survival, like removing the lower Snake River dams.”

Stay tuned for continuing coverage for the remainder of the summer.

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7. Keeping the Pressure on Congress

Chris Vertopoulos, the owner of Chris V’s Guide Service and treasurer for Northwest Guides and Anglers Association (NWGAA) and Herman Fleishman, the owner of Northwest Fishing Adventures and a member of NWGAA and Northwest Sportsfishing Industry Association, in Washington D.C.

Throughout August, Members of Congress and staff are back home in the Northwest during the Congressional Recess. We’re taking this opportunity to collaborate and coordinate with partners and allies across the region to elevate our advocacy and strategic communications to demonstrate the strong public support for funding and implementing Columbia/Snake river restoration priorities.

The Northwest’s native fish – and the great gifts they bring – are under unprecedented attack today. Strongly supported laws like the ESA and NEPA are in the crosshairs. Agency staff and funding are being slashed. And in mid-June, the Trump administration issued an order to terminate the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement (RCBA).

The RCBA was the Northwest first big step forward to realize the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI) – a holistic strategy to recover Columbia Basin fish and invest in regional communities and infrastructure. It is inclusive and collaborative – a way forward that leaves no one behind. While the current administration may have walked away from the RCBA, the larger CBRI endures and will serve as a North Star to guide our region’s work forward.

We are grateful to the Six Sovereigns — the four lower Columbia River Treaty Tribes (Yakama, Umatilla, Nez Perce, and Warm Springs) and the states of Oregon and Washington — for their visionary leadership to ensure our region is on a pathway to recovery, resilience, and a more just and prosperous future. With the solutions outlined in the CBRI, we can restore salmon and other native fish to healthy and abundant levels, ensure a clean and socially just energy future, support local economic resilience, and honor long-standing federal commitments to Tribal Nations.

You can help in two ways:

1. Take action by sending a message to your elected leaders calling for a robust implementation of the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI) and the opportunity it presents to restore healthy and abundant salmon and Southern Resident orcas, and honor our obligations to Tribal nations.
2. Show strong support for the continued implementation of the CBRI by posting, sharing, and following SOS' social media pages:

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8. Join SOS for The Way of the Masks Tour – September 7-20 – coming to a Northwest town near you!

Led by Se’Si’Le and the House of Tears carvers, Xaalh: The Way of the Masks Tour will bring attention to the emergent and urgent threats of the Trump Administration to Indigenous lands, waters, forests, and lifeways in the Pacific Northwest. The Way of the Masks campaign honors ancestral Indigenous knowledge that all things are related to xaalh: a sacred trust with the balance of life.

From September 7-20, with stops around the Northwest, we'll hear from Tribal and local leaders about the interrelatedness of Treaty rights and inherent rights, Indigenous ways of knowing nature and environmental justice, healthy rivers and salmon habitat, spiritual and ecological balance, and ancient forests and climate resilience. We invite you to join us!

September 7 – Bellingham, WA
September 8 – Olympia, WA
September 10 – Portland, OR
September 11 – Eugene, OR
September 13 – Klamath River
September 15 – Hood River, OR
September 17 – Asotin, WA
September 19 – Seattle, WA
September 20 – Lower Elwha, WA

Register for a Way of the Masks event  

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9. Salmon media roundup

Here are a couple of recent stories about the urgency and opportunity today for salmon recovery and river restoration:

News:

• Lewiston Morning Tribune: RFK Jr. avoids party line – Health secretary backs breaching; says U.S. treatment of Natives amounted to genocide
• The Columbian: Columbia Basin’s salmon are in hot water, literally, says report from Save Our Wild Salmon
• The Seattle Times: Environmental groups sue BPA over power market choice
• The Seattle Times: WA’s Tribal Canoe Journey is healing, celebrating, advocating
• Spokesman Review: 50 years after the Snake River dams were completed, can they continue to coexist with salmon?
• The Oregonian: Teens from NW tribes kayak Klamath to celebrate removal of dams and return of salmon
• The Oregonian: Salmon, tribal sovereignty, and energy collide
• Oregon Capitol Chronicle: As Trump cancels Columbia River deal, promises to Indigenous American tribes are still being broken
• Grist: Salmon, tribal sovereignty, and energy collide as US abandons Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement
• Cascadia Daily News: Report: To save Puget Sound’s orcas, governments need to act fast
• News Data: Salmon Managers Begin Safety-Net Strategy for Tucannon Spring Chinook

Opinions, Editorials, and Letters to the Editor:

• Idaho Capital Sun Commentary by Pat Ford
  • Salmon extinction in motion in Washington’s and Oregon’s Snake River
  • Salmon and steelhead extinction threshold science, and the ocean fish of northeast Oregon
  • The good work underway by Pacific Northwest salmon people in northeast Oregon
• The Seattle Times: BPA plan puts progress on clean energy and salmon recovery at risk
• The Columbian: Letter: Dam removal essential for salmon
• The Daily Herald: Comment: BPA adds to long history of poor resource management
• The Spokesman Review: Sarah Dyrdahl: Reimagining the Columbia
• Everett Herald Letter: Snohomish PUD should rethink support for BPA market decision
• The Spokesman Review: Letter: Remove dams, save our salmon
• Spokesman Review Guest Opinion: Fed ignores alternatives to generate electricity that would help Columbia Basin salmon runs

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Wild Salmon & Steelhead News is published monthly by the Save Our wild Salmon Coalition. Read on to learn about the Columbia-Snake River Basin’s endangered wild salmon and steelhead, the many benefits they deliver to people and ecosystems, and the extinction crisis they face today - unless we act! Find out how SOS is helping lead efforts to restore health, connectivity, and resilience to the rivers and streams these fish depend upon in the Columbia-Snake Basin and how you can get involved to help restore healthy, abundant, and harvestable populations and sustain more just and prosperous communities. To learn more and/or get involved, contact Martha Campos.

Table of Contents:

1. Our way forward to defend salmon and steelhead from extinction
2. Coming soon: 'Hot Water Report' for the lower Snake and Columbia Rivers 
3. Join Nimíipuu Protecting the Environment's 'Envisioning a Restored Lower Snake River Flotilla' August 15-16!
4. Salmon media round-up  

1. Our way forward to defend salmon and steelhead from extinction

Salmon AK © Dave McCoyThis past month brought devastating news regarding the federal government's commitments to protect imperiled salmon and steelhead populations and restore a healthier, more resilient Columbia Basin. In this newsletter, we review what has happened and the important ways you can take action.

Trump Administration withdraws from the 'Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement'

Salmon, orca, and fishing advocates are deeply disappointed by the Trump Administration’s announcement to withdraw from the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement (RCBA). Announced in December 2023, this historic agreement between the federal government and the states, Tribes, and people of the Pacific Northwest created a long-sought, much-needed opportunity to collaboratively restore endangered native fish populations, invest in communities and critical infrastructure, and address a set of linked challenges concerning clean energy, irrigation, transportation, and recreation. With its Executive Order issued on June 12, the Trump Administration ignored the pressing needs, interests, and values of many Tribal and non-tribal communities that strongly support salmon recovery and necessary investments to upgrade aging infrastructure, including the replacement of the services currently provided by the lower Snake River dams.

The abrupt termination of the RCBA represents a huge missed opportunity for the people of the Northwest and nation - a chance to move beyond decades of costly, divisive litigation and conflict and toward an inclusive and collaborative approach focused on developing shared solutions and meeting the needs of imperiled salmon, their rivers, and Tribal and non-tribal communities alike.

The federal government: a 5-time loser in court. For nearly three decades before the RCBA, fishing, environmental, and clean energy groups, all represented by Earthjustice, have been in constant litigation with BPA, Army Corps, and their allies to protect wild salmon and steelhead populations facing extinction in the Columbia and Snake rivers. Five consecutive salmon plans developed by the federal government dating back to the 1990s that cost in excess of $25B were all found to be inadequate and illegal in the U.S.district court. A multi-year stay or pause of that long-running litigation that began in 2021 was a key element of the RCBA - as long as progress was being made to implement it. But now, with the Trump Administration's recent decision to abandon the RCBA, salmon and fishing advocates and their allies are assessing possible next steps, including litigation.

Our collective work with you, our NGO partners, scientists, and policymakers to defend and advocate for salmon and steelhead is more important now than ever! Our voices and coordinated action are essential to ensure a future with abundant, fishable, life-giving salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia-Snake River Basin and across the Northwest. At this very challenging time, we all have a role to play to protect and preserve the integral link between salmon and our region’s special way of life.

Thank you for your past advocacy to protect salmon, their rivers, and a healthy Columbia-Snake River Basin. Team SOS looks forward to continuing our work with you - we are always stronger together!

Take action to defend salmon and steelhead from extinction:

Advancing the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI): SOS will continue to work towards solutions outlined in the CBRI with members of Congress and other regional policymakers. The CBRI, developed by the Six Sovereigns, is a visionary, comprehensive, regionally supported roadmap to rebuild imperiled native fish populations, ensure a clean and socially just energy future, support local economic resilience, and honor federal commitments to Tribal Nations. The CBRI includes many important pieces, including a path to lower Snake River dam removal, starting with dam service replacement planning that is underway through Washington State agencies.

Urging members of Congress to support urgent Columbia Basin salmon investments in FY2026 appropriations bills: We will continue to support the leadership of regional sovereigns and fight for policies and funding needed to protect, restore, and reconnect the habitats that wild salmon and steelhead require. We are urging members of Congress to fund critical investments in the FY26 appropriations bills (supporting the same request made earlier this year by the Six Sovereigns) to recover salmon and invest in our communities—moving everyone forward together. Recently, SOS and salmon/fishing advocates from Oregon and Washington traveled to Washington D.C to meet with policymakers and their staff, sharing how the crisis facing salmon and steelhead impacts our region's economy and culture, and asking for their help to support the CBRI and fund key federal programs that support the restoration of salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River Basin. Take Action: Contact your members of Congress to secure important salmon recovery investments.

TAKE ACTION

Holding Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) accountable for its legal obligations to protect salmon and steelhead in the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NPCC) 2026 Fish and Wildlife Plan: In 1980, with the alarming decline in Columbia River Basin salmon, Congress enacted the Northwest Power Act. With the Act, Congress created the NPCC and directed it to develop and periodically amend a fish and wildlife program in which BPA has an obligation to “protect, mitigate, and enhance” fish and wildlife impacted by hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River and its tributaries.

Currently, NPCC is in the process of developing its 2026 Fish and Wildlife Program, which includes targets for salmon abundance and details on how to achieve those targets. Since 1987, the Council has repeatedly reaffirmed a salmon abundance goal of 5 million adult fish returning annually to the Basin. In recommendations recently filed with the NPCC as it considers amendments to the Fish and Wildlife Plan, BPA requested that NPCC eliminate its longstanding target of 5 million salmon returning to the Columbia River Basin annually. BPA also argued it should not have any responsibility to help meet the targets if the NPCC decides to retain them. Clearly, BPA is attempting to abandon its legal responsibility to protect and rebuild salmon populations in the Columbia River Basin and is pushing endangered salmon and steelhead closer to the brink of extinction. Take Action: Submit a comment to NPCC’s 2026 Fish and Wildlife Plan to hold BPA accountable and protect salmon recovery goals and efforts.

SUBMIT A COMMENT BY JULY 3

Join the Hear the People, Heal the River: Virtual Action Hour: SOS recently launched a new monthly virtual action hour series to promote collective action to protect salmon and defend the historic progress our region has made towards salmon recovery. Join the action hour to hear updates from experts on issues impacting salmon recovery and the health of the Columbia-Snake Rivers, ask questions, and get resources and information about how you can take action NOW.

Save the date for the next action hour on July 22, at 12:30pm AND 5:30pm PT. Afternoon and evening sessions will be identical, so you can choose the time that works best for you! 

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER

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2. Coming soon: 'Hot Water Report' for the lower Snake and Columbia rivers 

Save Our wild Salmon and coalition partners will soon kick off our 10th annual series of the Hot Water Report.

The once-abundant anadromous fish populations in the Columbia-Snake River Basin are struggling to survive today primarily due to multiple harms caused by the federal dams and their warm stagnant reservoirs. Each summer, for the past 10 years, we have reported and tracked the rising water temperatures, which harm and kill both juvenile and adult fish as they migrate to and from the Pacific Ocean. 

These cold-water fish begin to suffer harmful effects when water temperatures exceed 68° Fahrenheit. Scientists have identified the 68°F threshold as the biological limit that water temperatures should remain under to protect salmon and steelhead. The longer and the higher water temperatures rise above 68°F, the greater the harm to the fish, including: migration disruption, increased metabolism, increased susceptibility to disease, reduced reproductive potential (by reducing egg viability), suffocation (warm water carries less oxygen), and in the worst case - death. 

Stay tuned as we launch the Hot Water Report, where we will track water temperatures in real-time and highlight related issues and challenges facing the Columbia and Snake rivers, including the opportunities to improve them in order to recover healthy, resilient fish populations and the benefits they deliver to the Northwest and nation’s culture, economy, and ecology.

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3. Join Nimíipuu Protecting the Environment's 'Envisioning a Restored Lower Snake River Flotilla' - August 15 and 16!

You’re invited to Nimíipuu Protecting the Environment's Envisioning a Restored Lower Snake River Flotilla, on August 15-16 at Hells Gate State Park in Lewiston, ID.

Join us to celebrate the profound opportunities a free-flowing lower Snake River and abundant salmon and steelhead will bring—Tribal justice, ecosystem health, community resilience, recreation, and more—while calling on our policymakers to take meaningful action for salmon recovery in the Columbia Basin.

Let's come together and take action to heal the Snake River. This special two-day event will be our biggest rally on the river in years—also featuring on-land activities including inspiring Tribal speakers, food, live music, a film screening, interactive art, and more! The Flotilla is family-friendly and open to everyone. All are welcome at this free community gathering.

REGISTER TODAY!

Join more summer events at wildsalmon.org/events 

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4. Salmon media round-up 

Here are a couple of recent stories about the urgency and opportunity today for salmon recovery and river restoration:

News:

• Seattle Times: Trump cancels landmark Columbia River agreement with tribes, WA, OR
• Lewiston Morning Tribune: Trump spikes Northwest salmon agreement
• Moscow-Pullman Daily News: Report says Snake River chinook and steelhead still in peril
• OPB: The president just unraveled years of work on tribal rights, salmon and clean energy. So what happens next?

Opinions and Editorials: 

• The Hill Opinion: Energy Secretary Wright ‘passionately’ ignorant about Northwest hydropower
• Everett Herald Editorial: A loss for Northwest tribes salmon and energy
• The Columbian Editorial:  In Our View: Move to end critical fish deal offers no solutions
• The Columbian: Letter: Salmon decision is shortsighted

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Wild Salmon & Steelhead News is published monthly by the Save Our wild Salmon Coalition. Read on to learn about the Columbia-Snake River Basin’s endangered wild salmon and steelhead, the many benefits they deliver to people and ecosystems, and the extinction crisis they face today - unless we act! Find out how SOS is helping lead efforts to restore health, connectivity, and resilience to the rivers and streams these fish depend upon in the Columbia-Snake Basin and how you can get involved to help restore healthy, abundant, and harvestable populations and sustain more just and prosperous communities. To learn more and/or get involved, contact Martha Campos.

Table of Contents:

1. In memory of Ed Chaney
2. Thank you to all who 'GaveBIG' in May!
3. Advocating for Pacific salmon from the Northwest to D.C. - and how YOU can help!
4. BPA makes confounding decision on energy market
5. Watch the 'RECIPROCITY: Envisioning a Healthy and Restored Columbia Basin' webinar recording!
6. Join SOS and friends at upcoming Salmon, Orca, and River events!
7. Salmon media round-up 

1. In memory of Ed Chaney

From the desk of Pat Ford

Ed Chaney, who inspired the start of Save Our wild Salmon Coalition in 1991-92 and led it in its early years, passed away on May 15. 

Ed had spent much of his career working on salmon, steelhead, and rivers – first as staff with the National Wildlife Federation, and then as a consultant to states, Tribes, and NGOs. In 1977, when the Snake Basin had its lowest-ever recorded flows, Ed was instrumental in enlisting Cecil Andrus, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior, to push federal agencies for more water during salmon's migration period. That's when I met him.

Like many of us, Ed thought the fish provisions of the Northwest Power Act, passed by Congress in 1980, would help restore salmon and steelhead. But after a decade of much noise but little real action by the newly-created Northwest Power Council, Ed was among those who gave up on the Council, which was hopelessly split politically when it came to what salmon really needed. He cheered when Endangered Species Act petitions were filed for Columbia and Snake salmon in 1989-91. Sensing an opportunity, he pushed to create an umbrella organization, focused on the Columbia and Snake rivers, to represent sport fishers, commercial fishers, and conservation-minded people with one voice on dam operations, which could also work closely with Tribes. Ed had worked with nearly all of them, watched them fight over ever fewer fish, and realized that only together the region could possibly change the salmon/dam status quo. The Save Our wild Salmon Coalition came into being, and the new-at-the-time Bullitt Foundation (thank you, Emory Bundy!) provided seed money for its first few years.

Ed became director of the new coalition, with two staff members - myself in Boise and Tim Stearns in Seattle. It took a couple of years to sort out, scientifically and internally, what Save Our wild Salmon would do and how it would operate. Ed's great contributions were his long list of leader contacts across every salmon constituency, and his sharp focus on the Columbia and Snake rivers. He realized that a pro-salmon coalition working on all salmon matters in the entire Northwest would be spread too thin. It was a tough decision, but I think the right one.

A couple of years into the new coalition, Ed decided he was not the organization man the coalition needed to work through its tensions and mature workings. SOS was a real coalition, with real differences among its member constituencies. Ed was an inspiration, a goad, a very good writer, and the man you wanted on stage debating with utility executives and Bonneville Power Administration leaders. He was not fond of management, so he bowed out in 1993-4. He inspired the coalition to form, and to take on its powerful opponents. He couldn't take the coalition where it had to go internally, but Save Our wild Salmon Coalition would not have begun without him.

Ed was delightful and sometimes difficult to work with. He was funny, shading to mordant. He quickly spotted flaws in the arguments of friends and opponents alike. He was often inspiring, with quick wit and deep knowledge. He had a fighting style that could, at times, approach slash-and-burn.

I spoke to Ed for the last time this January. I interviewed him about Bill Platts, a great river ecologist, Ed worked with on livestock grazing. Ed's voice was weak, but he was the same synthesizer and thinker I remembered from 30 years before. He was looking forward to more hunting and fishing, which were lifelong passions.

I remember Ed for many qualities, memories, good works for salmon and rivers, and above all, the creation of Save Our wild Salmon. We haven't won yet, Ed, and there's been a reverse or two lately. But it's a long game, as you knew. I'm glad you lived to see the Klamath River restored as its four dams came down. Now, on to the lower Snake, as you would so earnestly wish us to keep on.

Ed leaves his life partner Charlotte, his two sons Eric and Mark, his brother Timothy, and Eric’s two grandchildren, James and Ann.

Pat Ford grew up in Idaho Falls. He worked for the Idaho Conservation League for seven years, and he worked for the Save Our wild Salmon Coalition for 22 years. He retired in 2014 and lives in Boise with his wife, Julia Page.

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2. Thank you to all who 'GaveBIG' in May!

Earlier this month, Save Our wild Salmon participated in GiveBIG, Washington State's nonprofit giving campaign. Big thanks to everyone in the SOS community who helped us meet and exceed our $30,000 goal! Over 90 online and offline supporters contributed to our GiveBIG campaign this spring, which was superpowered by a very generous donor who offered a $15,000 matching grant, allowing donors to double their impact.

Your generous financial support ensures that SOS will persevere with our vital policy, communications, outreach, and community organizing work! Thanks to you, we'll continue engaging stakeholders, policymakers, and people to support the Six Sovereigns' alliance and its comprehensive plan to recover salmon and invest in communities, known as the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI), including the urgently-needed removal of the four costly lower Snake River dams and the replacement of their services with modernized alternatives.

We're very grateful to all of you who care so deeply about wild salmon and steelhead, and their rivers and streams in the Columbia-Snake Basin. Your strong support - and your advocacy - energizes us in these challenging times, and makes a huge difference for our capacity, programs, and impact on behalf of these amazing fish. Thank you!

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3. Advocating for Pacific salmon from the Northwest to DC - and how YOU can help!

From left to right: Ginna Owens (NextGen), Marin Plut (NextGen), Linda Behnken (Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association), Abby Dalke (SOS), Tanya Riordan (SOS), Keenan Sanderson (Tlingit Haida), and Amy Grondin (Duna Fisheries)

Just a few weeks ago, a powerful team of salmon advocates from Alaska, Washington, and Oregon flew to Washington, DC to meet with members of Congress and press for policies to support healthy abundant salmon populations and the many benefits they bring to communities, cultures, and ecosystems across the entire Pacific Northwest.

Click the image for a closer look at the map.Our team included two youth advocates with our NextGen Salmon Collective, two female commercial salmon fishermen, and a Tlingit & Haida member, along with Abby and Tanya from the SOS team. While geographically diverse, the unique, sacred thread that tied our team together was Columbia Basin salmon. As this map shows, many of the stocks of salmon that spawn in the Columbia and Snake rivers migrate through the Pacific Ocean to as far north as southeast Alaska. They cycle nutrients from the Columbia Basin to the coastal waters of southeast Alaska. With a unified voice, our diverse team of advocates asked policymakers to protect and restore these cherished species that connect and nourish us.

We asked Northwest Members of Congress to support the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI) - the comprehensive plan to recover salmon and invest in communities developed recently by the "Six Sovereigns," (the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the states of Oregon and Washington). The CBRI is our best path forward to restore Columbia and Snake River salmon and other native fish populations, ensure a clean and socially just energy future, support local economic resilience, and uphold our nation's longstanding, still unmet, commitments to Tribal Nations. Implementation of this historic, regionally supported plan will bring salmon abundance, and the prosperity that accompanies it, to communities from Idaho to Alaska.

While we were in D.C., we urged Members of Congress to oppose harmful attacks that would undermine important progress and implementation of the CBRI, and to secure critical funding in the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget for appropriations requested by the Six Sovereigns Alliance.

You can be a part of this important advocacy work by urging your members of Congress to support the Six Sovereigns' FY26 Appropriations request to support the implementation of the CBRI.

Learn More and Take Action!

Thank you for your continued support!

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4. BPA makes confounding decision on energy market

Columbia Map, © Claire WaichlerOn May 9, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) issued its Day-Ahead Market Policy, which established the agency's intent to pursue participation in Southwest Power Pool's Markets+ day-ahead market. This announcement was unfortunate, but unsurprising; BPA has been signaling this direction for more than a year. Given the high costs anticipated for the Northwest and lack of any urgency, BPA's decision strikes salmon and clean, affordable energy advocates as premature and wrong-headed. Unless they change course, BPA's decision is expected to harm communities and the salmon of the Pacific Northwest for many years to come.

Let's step back and consider this decision and its implications. Organized energy markets exist to facilitate energy trading among utilities and power marketers. Properly organized, these markets can deliver significant benefits to people and businesses, as well as natural resources and the climate. Using powerful computers and complex algorithms, these markets can match up entities with surplus power to those seeking to purchase power.

BPA already participates in one such market – the Western Energy Imbalance market (WEIM). That market is operated by California's Independent System Operator (CAISO). The WEIM's advanced market system automatically finds low-cost energy to serve real-time consumer demand across the west. Since its launch in 2014, the WEIM has enhanced grid reliability and generated big cost savings for its participants. In addition to its economic advantages, the WEIM improves the integration of renewable energy, which leads to a cleaner, greener grid. At this time, BPA and most Western utilities participate in that market.

Now, two different entities are developing new "day ahead" energy markets. CAISO is working on an Extended Day Ahead Market (EDAM), while the Southwest Power Pool, based in Little Rock, Arkansas, is developing a day ahead market, Markets+. EDAM is scheduled to go live in 2026 while Markets+ targets 2028 as its launch date.

BPA had no compelling reason to commit to an energy market at this time. It could have: (1) announced a nonbinding intention to join Markets+, or (2) announced an intention to participate in EDAM, or (3) continued to participate in the WEIM while awaiting further market design and governance developments in both day ahead markets before making any decision.

Advocates for salmon and for clean and affordable energy urged BPA to choose Door #3 above, as did the four U.S. Senators from Oregon and Washington, plus the governors and utility regulators of both states. These parties pointed to better economic returns from either WEIM or EDAM, compared to Markets+, according to consultant studies paid for by BPA itself. For the year 2026, for example, this new economic analysis favors EDAM over Markets+ by $69-$221 million per year. These significant savings will mean real benefits (e.g. lower bills) for many families and businesses. This considerable difference in benefits between Markets+ and EDAM remains sizable even in later years (2030 and 2035). BPA would achieve $79-$129 million in greater benefits annually by continuing participation in the WEIM than it would from joining Markets+ —even if all other regional market participants join a day ahead market.

The larger market footprint or geographic reach of WEIM or EDAM, compared to Markets+, would also enhance reliability and reduce pressure on Northwest hydropower operations - and thereby allow some greater space in the Columbia and Snake rivers for salmon and steelhead.

So, what can BPA be thinking in making this confounding choice? The key fact is this: Without BPA participation, Markets+ is probably not viable. If BPA, which owns 75% of Northwest transmission (those large lines that move electricity from the places it is generated to places where it is consumed), joined EDAM, other potential northwest Markets+ participants, like Puget Sound Energy, the Mid-Columbia PUDs, and BC Hydro's marketing arm, PowerEx, would have very limited ability to deliver or receive energy from the rest of the far-flung footprint of Markets+. In other words, without strong participation by key Northwest entities and access to their hydropower, Markets+ would be too scattered and constrained to succeed.

BPA knows that their participation is a life-or-death matter for Markets+, as does the Southwest Power Pool. This gives them a degree of governance leverage they would not have as a participant of EDAM.

What this all means is that BPA is effectively subordinating economic benefits to its customer utilities, and their retail customers (e.g. people like you) to its desire to exercise maximum control over this emerging energy market.

Fortunately, BPA's decision is far from final. As noted above, Markets+ will not go live before 2028. A lot can and will happen in the next 2 ½ years as market design and governance evolves in both day ahead markets. Save Our wild Salmon and allies will continue to advocate for smarter choices by BPA that support affordable power, investment in clean and renewable energy resources, and salmon recovery.

In the media:

• PNS: Bonneville Power energy market choice impacts NW environment

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5. Watch the 'RECIPROCITY: Envisioning a Healthy and Restored Columbia Basin' webinar recording!

This spring, we hosted a new webinar series: RECIPROCITY! It focuses on respecting and caring for salmon and their special relationship to the health of our ecosystem, land, water, species, and people! In our third installment of our webinar series, we were thrilled to have an engaging conversation that envisions the benefits of a healthy and restored Columbia Basin. 

The Columbia Snake River Basin once annually sustained 10-18 million salmon, steelhead, and native fish, and was rich in diverse native wildlife, plants, and healthy waters and rivers. However, the Basin has experienced significant changes in the past 150 years, pushing salmon to the brink of extinction. Restoring health to the Columbia Basin - including lower Snake River dam removal - offers big opportunities for communities to connect with thriving ecosystems, sustainable economic opportunities, healthier communities, and a balanced web of life.

Our featured guests each spoke about their unique relationships with the salmon and the Columbia and Snake rivers, and they shared their perspectives on many benefits for all people that will come from healthier lands, waters, fish, and wildlife in the Columbia Basin.

Watch the Recording

Thank you to our featured guests!

• Kayeloni Scott, Executive Director, Columbia/Snake River Campaign
• Liz Hamilton, Policy Director, Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association
• Tom O’Keefe, Pacific Northwest Stewardship Director, American Whitewater
• Reggie Westgate, NextGen Salmon Collective student leader

Watch the recordings of previous RECIPROCITY webinars. Thank you all for joining the series, and we hope you will join us in the fall as we continue with the series!

Thank you to the Natural Encounters Conservation Fund for their ongoing support of this webinar series!

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6. Join SOS and friends at upcoming Salmon, Orca, and River events!

Mark your calendar for upcoming summer events! Visit wildsalmon.org/events for a list of events near you.

June is Orca Action Month!
Orca Action Month is an annual series of events intended to raise awareness about the threats facing critically endangered Southern Resident orcas, educate the public on what we can all do to protect them, and build a community to celebrate these magnificent beings. This year’s theme, Threads of Life: Connecting Orcas, People, and the Future We Share, reminds us that we’re all woven into the same web of life. From the rivers that feed our salmon to the actions we take each day, everything is connected. When we protect orcas, we protect the future for all of us. Visit orcamonth.org for a list of upcoming virtual and live events throughout the month of June.

June 14: All Our Relations: A Majestic Matriarchy (Seattle, WA)
 Please join us for A Majestic Matriarchy on Saturday, June 14, from 6:30 – 8:30pm at St. Joseph Parish, Seattle, WA, with a Netse Mot: A Gathering Meal from 5:00-6:30 pm! This event will feature a powerful lineup of Indigenous women who will bring attention to the plight and importance of the Southern Resident orcas. Join us to listen, learn, and be inspired by the heartfelt words, visions, and voices of Indigenous women leaders from around the Northwest.

Tickets are available on a sliding scale basis and free for Indigenous Peoples. Learn more and register. A Majestic Matriarchy is presented by Se'Si'Le, an Indigenous-led nonprofit in Washington State, and supported by a coalition of NGOs and faith-based partners.

August 5: Salmon Life Cycle (Portland, OR)
Join Greater Hells Canyon Council, Pacific Rivers, and Save Our wild Salmon on a bike ride to show support for a free-flowing lower Snake River and the recovery of Columbia Basin salmon on August 5, 2025, 6pm!

Let’s get together for a fun bike ride centered on environmental activism and a shared love of free-flowing rivers! RSVP!

July 31-August 5: Snoqualmie Tribe Canoe Journey, Paddle to Lower Elwha
Dams Removed – A River Reborn – Spirits Renewed.

The Snoqualmie Tribe’s Culture Department is hosting this year’s Canoe Journey, Paddle to Lower Elwha: ʔéʔɬx̣ʷaʔ nəxʷsƛ̕áy̕əm̕ Strong People (July 21, 2025 – August 5, 2025). Learn more about the Canoe Journey and route here.

August 15 - August 16: Envisioning A Restored Lower Snake River Flotilla (Hells Gate State Park, ID)
Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment is hosting a Flotilla on August 15 – 16th! 

The two-day event will include an outdoor evening film screening The Grand Salmon, live music, interactive art, food, and a Flotilla with speakers highlighting the benefits and impact of a restored, healthy, and vibrant river. RSVP coming soon!

August 22 - August 24: Sawtooth Salmon Festival (Stanley, ID)
Join a free community celebration of the 900-mile journey of salmon from the ocean to Redfish Lake in Stanley, Idaho! Visit sawtoothsalmonfestival.org to learn more about the festival, hosted by Idaho Rivers United and Sawtooth Interpretive & Historical Association.

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 7. Salmon media round-up 

Here are a couple of recent stories about the urgency and opportunity today for salmon recovery and river restoration:

News: 

• NewsData: Lower Returns for Sockeye, Coho, Steelhead Predicted in 2025
• The Spokesman-Review: Columbia River salmon restoration hit hard by $1.5B cut to Army Corps of Engineers
• Fast Company: These stunning photos show how nature came back after the world’s largest dam removal project

Opinion:

• The Columbian: Local View: Now is not the time to weaken a law that works
• The Oregonian: Opinion: A surge of salmon – and hope – after Klamath dams’ removal 

LTE:

• Lookout Eugene-Springfield: Northwest Energy Security Act ‘fails not only salmon, ecosystem but tribal communities’
• The Spokesman-Review: Abundant salmon return: A vision
• The Spokesman-Review: Investing in salmon would boost regional economy
• Tri-City Herald: The Snake River dams are killing salmon. Time for them to go

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