State officials and environmental groups are asking a federal judge to order the Trump administration to take emergency actions to prevent the extinction of salmon populations in the Columbia River by adjusting hydropower dam operations.
In separate motions filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, both the National Wildlife Federation, represented by Earthjustice, and the state of Oregon asked a federal judge to issue a preliminary injunction affecting the operations of eight hydropower dams in the region.
The requests come in the wake of President Donald Trump’s abandonment in June of a $1 billion settlement deal — known as the “Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement” — that had put a long-running legal battle over hydropower operations on hold.
“Fish biologists say Snake River salmon are running out of time. Oregon, Washington, and four Tribes came up with a good plan to save them, but the federal government threw it out, so returning to court is the best tool we have left to prevent the collapse of these imperiled fish populations,” said Mike Leahy, the senior director of wildlife, hunting and fishing policy for the National Wildlife Federation.
