Fish and wildlife protection is fundamental to BPA’s public service mission as a trustworthy steward of the region’s natural resources. Along with power and transmission, fish and wildlife protection is one of the three elements of BPA’s mission statement. BPA supports healthy fish and wildlife populations while supplying electricity from the nation’s largest source of clean power – the federal dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers.

BPA carries out this mission by implementing the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. Through its partners, BPA implements biologically sound and cost-effective measures to restore habitat, protect land and water, improve passage at the dams and operate state-of-the-art salmon and steelhead hatcheries. As a result, Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead are returning to our rivers and to tributaries and streams where they haven’t been seen in decades.

The Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program is developed by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and funded by BPA’s electricity ratepayers to help protect and enhance fish and wildlife affected by the federal hydropower dams.

​Meadowlark photo by Cecilia Brown, BPA

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