Trump pulls US from plan to recover salmon population, calling it radical
GuardianMAY 30
Trump Scraps Biden's $1 Billion Snake River Dam Agreement
Above: Little Goose Lock and Dam on the lower Snake River in southeastern Washington state. Image copyright: Don and Melinda Crawford/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
The Spin
Republican narrative
This decision protects American families from radical environmental policies that would have devastated the region's economy and energy security. Removing these dams would eliminate reliable hydropower for 2.5 million homes, increase electricity rates by 40% or more, and destroy critical shipping routes that transport over 60% of Washington's wheat exports. The Biden agreement was negotiated in secret without input from affected communities and utilities.
Democratic narrative
Trump's withdrawal is part of the federal government's historic pattern of broken promises to tribes, whose treaty rights guarantee access to salmon fishing, not just "the right to dip nets into barren waters." The historic agreement offered the best path to prevent salmon extinction while planning infrastructure modernization; scrapping it would force costly litigation that benefits nobody while pushing iconic species toward extinction.