The Columbia Basin Fish Accords are the foundation for a new working relationship between tribes, states, and federal agencies with responsibility to manage and protect salmon and other natural resources in the Pacific Northwest. The partnership details specific commitments of the federal government to help the Columbia River’s fish populations. These include incorporating an adaptive management approach into hydropower operations, continuing the operation of the Fish Passage Center, and seeking a streamlining of the Independent Scientific Review Panel process used to evaluate and approve salmon restoration projects.

The agreement allows the parties to implement on-the-ground management, and creates reasonable certainty and stability for fish populations and communities. It allows managers to help the basin’s fish populations more in the next ten years than they’ve been able to in the past.

The Columbia Basin Fish Accords is the result of more than a year of collaboration, negotiations, and talks between the treaty tribes, US Army Corps of Engineers, Bonneville Power Administration, and the Bureau of Reclamation to establish an acceptable plan for hydropower operations, hatchery management, and habitat restoration.