Columbia Basin Initiative

The Columbia Basin Initiative is a 2023 agreement between the U.S. government, four sovereign Native American Tribes (Nez Perce, Yakama, Warm Springs and Umatilla) and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon to provide over $1 billion in funds for salmon restoration and clean energy production. The agreement comes after over twenty years of litigation with the U.S. government for violating the Endangered Species Act. The agreement honors the treaty rights of the four tribes to fish and gather food in the Columbia Basin. The funding also will be used to support Tribally-owned energy projects.