Key events related to Tribal treaty rights, dam construction, and salmon decline and recovery efforts in the Columbia and Snake river basins

Tribal rights defined and upheld

Native American Tribes living in the Snake River Basin were promised, via treaties in 1855 and 1868, the right to hunt and fish where and how they traditionally have, into perpetuity. Those treaty rights have been tested many times—including on issues of location, timing, and level of fish harvests—and each time courts have consistently upheld the treaty rights. (Source)

1855

Hunting/fishing rights treaties (Yakama, Umatilla, Warm Springs, Nez Perce Tribes)

1868

Shoshone Bannock/Fort Bridger Treaty (hunting/fishing)

1905

Treaty rights upheld (United States v. Winans, Yakama Tribe)

1942

Treaty rights upheld (Tulee v. Washington, Yakama Tribe)

1968

Treaty rights upheld (United States v. Oregon)

1969

Treaty rights upheld (Sohappy v. Smith; Yakama, Umatilla, Warm Springs, Nez Perce Tribes)

1974

Treaty rights upheld (United States v. Washington)

2023

U.S. government/six sovereigns Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement (RCBA) (see 2001 NWF v. NMFS)

2024

RCBA Tribal circumstances report

Dam-building era

In the early 1900s, the U.S. government took on a charge—the “308 Plan”—to study and then build dams wherever possible for power, flood control, agriculture, and more. A period of dam building resulted, beginning with Bonneville Dam in 1937 and concluding with the last of four dams on the lower Snake River, the Ice Harbor Dam, in 1975. These dams provide energy generation, flood control, agricultural irrigation, an effective seaport for barging goods to and from deep inland, as well as jobs associated with these activities. (Source)

1927

Congress/U.S. Army Corp of Engineers 308 Plan for dam creation

1938

Bonneville Dam (on Columbia below Snake) completed

1954

McNary Dam (on Columbia below Snake) completed

1957

The Dalles Dam (on Columbia below Snake) completed

1962

Ice Harbor Dam (lower Snake River) completed

1969

Lower Monumental Dam (lower Snake River) completed

1970

Little Goose Dam (lower Snake River) completed

1971

John Day Dam (on Columbia below Snake) completed

1975

Lower Granite Dam (lower Snake River) completed

Salmon decline: Studies and action plans

Within years of the completion of the final of the four lower Snake River dams, wild salmon numbers plummeted for all Snake River species and a period of reckoning began, including multiple major studies undertaken and published in the past 30 years by federal, state, and Tribal entities regarding how to recover salmon in the Snake River Basin. Most have included action plans, yet action to date has had limited success. (Source)

1991

Snake River sockeye declared endangered under the Endangered Species Act

1996

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Snake River Recovery Plan

1999

Meyer Tribal Impacts Report

2001

National Wildlife Federation v. NMFS

2008

Columbia Basin fish accords collaboration to fund and do mitigations

2017

Columbia Basin Partnership (CBP) Task Force collaboration for vision, goals

2019

Marine Fisheries Advsory Committee (MFAC)/CBP Vision for Recovering Salmon (Phase I report)

2020

MFAC/CBP Vision for Recovering Salmon (Phase II report)

2022

Bonneville Power Administration Lower Snake River Dams Power Replacement Study

2022

Lower Snake River Dams Benefit Replacement Report (Washington)

2022

NOAA/NMFS “Rebuilding Interior Columbia Basin Salmon and Steelhead”

Historic agreement: Investments and analysis

A historic agreement for Tribal nations: two states and the federal government committed $1 billion in new energy projects, fisheries, agriculture, transportation, and industry that could replace the services provided by the four Snake River dams.The investments are designed to deliver more of the benefits to communities, workers, and Tribes in the region to honor treaty rights and build more resilient rural economies. Investments are supported with new assessments, including a Tribal circumstances report (already delivered) and a regional energy assessment to be completed in 2025. (Source)

2023

Presidential memorandum

2023

Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative

2023

U.S. government/six sovereigns Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement (RCBA) (see 2001 NWF v. NMFS)

2024

RCBA Tribal circumstances report

2025

RCBA regional energy services and dam replacement report

2025

RCBA dam replacement services analysis

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