Be a Hero for Our Rivers, Salmon, and Orca: Urge your members of Congress to secure funding for Columbia River Basin salmon and steelhead restoration!

iStock-135030076 Red Sockeye.jpeg

Help us secure crucial congressional funding for the Columbia River Basin's salmon and steelhead restoration and ensure the future of these vital ecosystems.

Last year marked a milestone with a historic agreement between the Biden Administration and regional stakeholders to bolster salmon recovery efforts in the Columbia and Snake rivers. This initiative, known as the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI), aims to prevent the extinction of salmon and steelhead by restoring healthy populations throughout the Columbia Basin. It focuses on modernizing infrastructure, boosting local economies, and upholding treaty obligations with Tribal Nations.

With the U.S. Government's commitments in support of the CBRI, we've laid a solid groundwork for reviving the region's salmon and steelhead. However, to transform these plans into reality, securing critical funding from Congress is now imperative.

The agreement not only outlines a strategy for rejuvenating the lower Snake River and replacing the services of its dams but also pinpoints high-priority projects essential for the recovery and habitat restoration of salmon and steelhead in both the Snake and Columbia Rivers and their Mid-Columbia tributaries. As we embark on implementing this agreement, obtaining necessary appropriations from Congress for the fiscal year 2025 becomes crucial. President Biden's budget proposal for FY25 includes significant provisions for these efforts, but it's up to us to ensure Congress allocates the funds needed for these high-priority recovery projects. Join us in urging Northwest congressional representatives to commit to funding the Columbia River Basin's restoration and the crucial efforts to revive its salmon and steelhead populations.

Wild male and female red salmon in river before spawning in symmetric position via iStock

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Support Critical Funding for Columbia River Basin and Mid-Columbia Salmon Recovery in FY25 Appropriations

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I am writing to ask you to help secure urgently needed funding for Columbia River Basin restoration efforts in the FY25 appropriations process. President Biden’s FY25 budget request includes important investments to recover salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River and its tributaries. I urge you to support funding for these programs at least at the amount requested by the President and to help secure investments for high priority projects critical for salmon and steelhead recovery in the Mid-Columbia River. (Mid-Columbia River Priority Projects: https://www.wildsalmon.org/images/factsheets-and-reports/2024.Mid.Columbia.salmon.projects.pdf) The Northwest has a unique window of opportunity to bring in long overdue federal investments for the region’s environment and economy. Last year, President Biden released a Presidential Memorandum that directed all agencies to use their authorities and resources to support salmon recovery in the Basin. Then, in December, the four lower Columbia River Basin Tribes and the states of Oregon and Washington (Six Sovereigns) announced a visionary plan – the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI) – to prevent extinction and rebuild healthy and abundant salmon populations in the Columbia Basin while modernizing our infrastructure, supporting local economies, and honoring our treaty obligations to Tribal Nations. The CBRI – and U.S. Government Commitments in support of it – represents significant momentum toward a comprehensive, regionally-led solution to prevent extinction and rebuild healthy and abundant salmon in the Columbia Basin. President Biden’s FY25 budget request builds upon investments and actions announced in the Agreement as well as the Presidential Memorandum. Now, we need Congress to appropriate funding in the Basin to advance salmon recovery efforts, secure a swift and equitable clean energy transition, and modernize our infrastructure. One key part of the CBRI and U.S. Government Commitments that deserves special attention is a set of high priority projects to protect and restore habitat and begin to rebuild salmon and steelhead populations in the mid-Columbia River region. Please help secure funding for these projects and the programs proposed by the President’s Budget Request. We have a once-in-a lifetime opportunity for Northwest Sovereigns, stakeholders and citizens to work together to achieve a future where salmon populations and the Southern Resident orcas that rely upon them are restored, the United States upholds its promises to Northwest Tribes, and we invest in clean energy, modernized infrastructure, and our communities across the region. I deeply appreciate your commitment and leadership in addressing this historic opportunity. I ask you to do all you can to ensure these important programs and projects are fully funded through the FY2025 appropriations process.

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