President Trump withdrew from a Biden-era agreement aimed at resolving legal disputes with Native American tribes over dams on the Snake River, which are blamed for declining salmon populations. The move reverses efforts to study dam breaching and restore fish populations, leading to criticism from tribes and Democrats, and praise from opponents who favor maintaining the dams for energy and economic reasons.
The Biden-Harris Administration has announced a 10-year partnership with Tribes and States in the Pacific Northwest to restore wild salmon populations, expand clean energy production, and provide stability for communities dependent on the Columbia River System. The agreement includes over $1 billion in new Federal investments for wild fish restoration and the development of at least one to three gigawatts of Tribally sponsored clean energy projects. The Administration also commits to adjusting the operations of the Federal hydrosystem to benefit fish, conducting studies on replacing services provided by the Lower Snake River dams, and supporting Tribally led efforts to restore salmon populations in the Upper Columbia River Basin.
A new law in Illinois, called The Human Remains Protection Act, aims to expedite the repatriation of Native American remains that were dug up and held for study in educational facilities or displayed in cultural locales. The law grants tribes the authority to rebury recovered remains in Illinois, rather than relocating them to states where the U.S. government forced their relocation. The Illinois State Museum is prepared to reunify 1,100 remains with their tribes, and institutions in Illinois can identify nearly 13,000 individuals that must be repatriated. The law also strengthens penalties for disturbing human remains and requires meaningful consultation between holding institutions and tribes.
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a legal effort by tribes and environmental advocates to block the construction of the largest lithium mine in North America on federal land in Nevada. Despite objections from tribes and environmentalists, the Biden administration did not reverse the decision made during the Trump administration. The court ruled that federal land managers did not violate environmental laws when approving the Thacker Pass mine, which is expected to begin full construction this summer.
Leaders of tribes in the Colorado River Basin are pushing for more involvement in high-level discussions among the seven states that rely on the river as the federal government starts negotiations on long-term plans for the overtapped Colorado River. The 30 tribes in the basin have rights to use roughly one-fourth of the river’s average supply, but have been largely excluded from regional talks about river management. The tribes are demanding inclusion as the Biden administration begins the process of developing new rules for dealing with shortages after 2026, when the current rules are set to expire.
