Snake River Dams

A federal judge in Oregon has ordered narrow changes to hydropower dam operations on the Columbia and Snake rivers in the Pacific Northwest to help salmon. U.S. District Judge Michael Simon said the Trump administration’s plans for the massive structures would harm salmon runs that are “disappearing from the landscape.” The ruling came in a decades-long legal effort by the states of Oregon and Washington, Native American tribes, and conservation and fishing groups to ensure better protections for migrating salmon, which are killed in large numbers by the massive dams. The litigation was recently revived after the Trump administration torpedoed a landmark 2023 agreement to help recover imperiled salmon runs.