Columbia Basin Salmon and Steelhead

 

In October of 2021, at the request of the IGFA’s North America Regional Council’s Conservation Committee, an outreach campaign was conducted to garner support for the removal of four dams on the lower Snake River in Washington, US, as a critical step in the conservation of salmon and steelhead in the Columbia Basin. Both steelhead and Chinook salmon are listed under the Endangered Species Act and, within the Columbia Basin, the Snake River accounts for half of the summer steelhead and spring/summer Chinook. With the assistance of Trout Unlimited, letters were developed and sent to numerous heads of federal agencies and military branches involved with management of these imperiled species, as well as their habitats.

On January 7, 2022, the IGFA was pleased to receive a response to our letter from the Secretary of the Department of Commerce Gina Raimondo where Secretary Raimondo outlines the Department’s commitment to a collaborative approach to manage the conservation and recovery of salmon and steelhead in the Snake River. In her letter, Secretary Raimondo outlined the work that has been done in recent years including the creation of the Columbia Basin Partnership Task Force and their efforts on developing a long-term vision of the management goals for salmon and steelhead which was adopted by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in 2020. The letter also mentions that the new Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will include investments in habitat restoration and recovery of Pacific salmon.

The IGFA is excited to see these plans come to fruition for the benefit of salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River Basin and we appreciate the commitment of Secretary Raimondo in acknowledging the importance of these species and their habitats, as well as the stakeholders that hope to see these species recover for future generations to appreciate. We also thank the IGFA North America Regional Council’s Conservation Committee’s assistance and leadership in this effort.