Council hears updates on the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement from state and tribal representatives

At its January 14 meeting, the Council heard an update on the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement (watch video | see slides) from representatives of parties to the agreement, including: Kate Marckworth, Office of Legal Counsel, Yakama Nation; Jay Hesse, Director of Biological Services, Nez Perce; Austin Smith, Jr. Natural Resources General Manager, Warm Springs; Eric Quaempts, Director, Department of Natural Resources, Umatilla; Jim McKenna, Columbia Basin Federal Policy Advisor, Oregon; and Michael Garrity, Special Assistant for Columbia River Policy, Washington.

The Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement represents a suite of agreements related to fish and wildlife restoration and building tribal clean energy resources between the Biden-Harris administration and a group comprised of the Nez Perce Tribe, Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the State of Oregon, and the State of Washington, as part of a stay of litigation.

The panel presented an overview of the background and process that led to the agreement, and gave an update on implementation, which included deliverables such as the U.S. government’s tribal circumstance analysis report, a cross-cut budget, updated spill operations, studies that are underway in partnership with the state of Washington on replacement of services provided by the Lower Snake River Dams, and progress on a Department of Energy/Pacific Northwest National Labratory led regional power planning effort.

Kate Marckworth, Office of Legal Counsel, Yakama Nation, spoke to the need to honor trust and treaty obligations through the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, commenting, “That isn’t happening. The tribes are not getting the benefit of the bargain that they made. They are not receiving the fish that their communities need to move forward in a good way. It’s long past time for us to address those past inequities and the ongoing inequities of the current system.”