Governors, tribes ratify Columbia River Basin pact at White House signing ceremony
The governors of Washington and Oregon and four Native American tribal leaders gathered at the White House on Friday to celebrate last year’s agreement to avoid litigation over dams in the Columbia River Basin.
The agreement, which was announced in December and resulted from years of negotiation among the states, tribes in the region, environmental groups and federal agencies, established a path to reviving the area’s salmon and steelhead populations and called for a 10-year pause in legal fighting.
The governors, tribal leaders and a handful of administration officials held a White House signing ceremony Friday, though the deal has been in effect since the parties signed a memorandum of agreement in December.
The agreement was a necessary condition required under treaties with tribes to address the ailing fish populations and to restore the health of the river basin, but it marked the beginning of a long process, not the end, administration representatives and others said Friday.
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/02/23/governors-tribes-ratify-columbia-river-basin-pact-at-white-house-signing-ceremony/