Columbia Basin Fish Accords

On May 2, 2008, CRITFC, the Umatilla, Warm Springs, Yakama, and Colville tribes, the Bonneville Power Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Bureau of Reclamation gathered near the Tsagaglalal (“She Who Watches”) petroglyph at Columbia Hills State Park along the Columbia River to sign the Columbia Basin Fish Accords. Read the full text of the Columbia Basin Fish Accords MOA  (2.7 MB)

The partnerships created with the Accords secured $900 million for salmon restoration projects throughout the Columbia River Basin. With the Accords, resources previously used on litigation were rerouted to the more productive use of implementing on-the-ground projects.

In return, the BPA gained a ten-year period of certainty for hydropower generation. The Accords require adaptive management for dam operations to meet survival and passage needs of the salmon. The tribes agreed to not litigate for additional fish protection at the dams or the breaching of the Snake River dams for ten years. By working in partnership, the parties have shifted their relationships from adversarial to one based on negotiation and collaboration.

Though the Nez Perce Tribe was not a signatory to the agreement, its projects are consistent with those of the other tribes and CRITFC, thereby creating a system-wide approach to salmon restoration.

On May 2, 2008, the Umatilla, Warm Springs, Yakama, and Colville tribes, the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, the BPA, the US Bureau of Reclamation, and the US Army Corps of Engineers gathered to sign a ceremonial deer hide emblazoned with the Accord logo, also unveiled at the event.

Adapt, protect, restore

The tribal projects funded by the Accords fall into six categories:

1. Harvest Projects
   These projects provide improved understanding of catch composition and movement of adult fish and tribal fishing regulation enforcement for the responsible management of fisheries.
2. Passage Projects
   These projects improve the accounting of the abundance of Columbia Basin salmon stocks, the assessment of impacts on individual stocks as they migrate through the system, and the accuracy of escapement estimates for individual stocks.
3. Production Projects
   These projects devise and evaluate fish propagation strategies to maximize conservation and harvest opportunities and appropriately direct mitigation efforts for hydrosystem-related fish losses.
4. Habitat Projects
   These projects provide a deeper understanding of how habitat conditions—including watershed health, climate change scenarios, and restoration efforts—affect salmon production.
5. Lamprey Projects
   These projects seek to halt the decline of the Pacific lamprey, with the longer-term goal of restoration to levels supportive of their unique cultural and ecosystem values.
6. Infrastructure & Outreach Projects
   These projects implement measures and projects in a cost-effective and informed manner and ensure the measures are integrated with and complement existing management programs in the region; provide the opportunity to recast the public’s perception of salmon protection and restoration; and foster a greater understanding of and interest in salmon and healthy rivers.

A petroglyph at Columbia Hills State Park along the Columbia River that tribal legend tells is a great chief who was turned to stone by Coyote so she could watch over her people for all time.