CASCADE LOCKS, OR – The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs announced a nearly $10 million investment from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to provide critical rehabilitation at tribal fishing sites along the Columbia River.
In-Lieu and Treaty Fishing Access Sites were set aside by Congress for tribal members of the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Warm Springs, and Yakama Tribes to exercise their rights to fish in the Columbia River. Many of these sites are currently in poor shape, needing improvements to ensure the health and safety of tribal fishers and their families.
The funding, which comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, was announced by Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland during a groundbreaking event for new water and sewer system upgrades at the Cascade Locks Treaty In-Lieu site in Oregon, one of the locations to benefit from this announcement. The investment will help build restrooms and showers, fish cleaning and waste management stations, dishwashing facilities, fire hydrants, as well as make lighting and safety upgrades.
“These fishing sites are critical to supporting traditional fishing and ways of life here along the Columbia River,” said Assistant Secretary Newland. “This investment is part of our ongoing work to ensure that Native people have the right to continue to exist, as Native people, in their tribal communities.”
The Bureau of Indian Affairs funded a comprehensive condition and needs assessment for all 31 Columbia River In-Lieu and Treaty Fishing Access Sites, which identified $16 million in needed improvements. In the past three years, Indian Affairs has provided $6.6 million to begin engineering and design for projects at sites with the greatest infrastructure needs, including rehabilitation of water and wastewater systems. This announcement, which includes $9 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $928,080 from annual appropriations, will further provide funding to assist in addressing project needs identified by the needs assessment.
Projects from the announcement will be funded at the Lone Pine, Cascade Locks, Lyle Maryhill, Celilo, Dallesport, Stanley Rock, White Salmon, Roosevelt, Wyeth, Le Page, Pasture Point, Underwood, Preachers Eddy, Faler Road, and Crow Butte In-Lieu or Treaty Fishing Access Sites.
These investments build on a broad effort by the Biden-Harris administration to support tribally led efforts to restore healthy and abundant populations of salmon and other native fish in the Columbia River Basin. In September 2023, President Biden issued a presidential memorandum to advance these efforts, and the administration announced an agreement to restore salmon populations in the Upper Basin. In December 2023, the administration also announced a historic agreement to restore salmon populations in the Lower Basin, expand tribally sponsored clean energy production, and provide stability for communities that depend on the Columbia River System for agriculture, energy, recreation and transportation.