Thank you, Governor Inslee and Washington State Legislators, for breaking free from the failed, costly, harmful status quo and taking important next steps towards honoring treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations and restoring endangered salmon in the lower Snake River!

Thank you for your leadership and support to secure over $7 million dollars in the final 2023-25 WA State Budget for planning to transition the energy, transportation, and irrigation services currently provided by the four aging dams on the lower Snake River. These plans are important, concrete next steps to stop salmon extinction, restore the lower Snake River, and invest in clean energy and agriculture in the region.

Our region has spent over $26 billion taxpayer dollars on extensive mitigation efforts, yet we’ve failed to recover even one of the 13 populations of salmon on the brink of extinction today. We have an urgent and historic opportunity right now to overcome decades of conflict, litigation, and the failed status quo – and instead work together, honor our treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations, invest in communities and infrastructure, develop new clean energy sources, and ensure salmon abundance for future generations.

As stated affirmatively in the Final Snake River Report and Recommendations commissioned by Senator Murray and Governor Inslee, "We can no longer afford to be pitted against one another because of an intractable and unproductive choice between species and dams. The consequences of doing so are simply too severe. We can, and must, adapt in ways that strengthen our energy system, forestall the extinction of iconic species, and protect the rights of treaty Tribes while providing economic opportunity for the entire region. A great deal of work remains to resolve the technical and financial questions that remain, and it is time to transition from endless debate and litigation to taking concrete steps now that ensure every option is available to policymakers."

We can effectively plan to replace the transportation, energy, and irrigation services of the four lower Snake River dams – with reliable, affordable, modernized systems. Once salmon disappear, we can not replace them or the benefits they provide to our land, waters, cultures, and life.

Please join us in thanking Washington State Legislators and Governor Inslee for their leadership and effort to recover endangered salmon and steelhead, and invest in important planning and infrastructure across Washington State.

Read the Save Our wild Salmon Coalition Press Release about the 2023-25 Washington State Budget here.