Conservationists, tribes say deal with Biden administration is a road map to breach Snake River dams

By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — The U.S. government said Thursday it plans to spend $1 billion over the next decade to help recover depleted populations of salmon in the Pacific Northwest. It also committed to helping figure out how to offset the hydropower, transportation and other benefits provided by four controversial dams on the Snake River. The Biden administration stopped short of calling for the removal of the dams, but Northwest tribes and conservationists who have long sought that goal called the agreement a road map for dismantling them to save the fish. Filed in U.S. District Court in Oregon, the agreement pauses long-running litigation over federal operation of the dams and represents the most significant step yet toward breaching them.