YAKIMA, Wash. – The Yakama Nation is speaking out following a presidential memorandum announcing the termination of the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement . This decision impacts Washington, Oregon, and four treaty tribes, including the Yakama Nation and Umatilla Tribes.

Jeremy Takala, Chair of the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission , expressed the tribe's reaction to the terminated agreement.

"This is simply preserving our way of life to ensure that the treaties will be honored," he said.

The agreement, completed under the Biden administration, aimed to fund research and fishery projects to explore alternatives to the services provided by the four Lower Snake River dams. Gerald Lewis, Chair of the Yakama Nation Tribal Council, noted that such decisions are not surprising to the tribe.

"We're ever-changing our lifestyle. How we can do this, how can we catch fish? It's a lifestyle that we have to learn from that timeframe," Lewis stated.

In response to the termination, Congressman Dan Newhouse issued a press release stating that removing the dams would have "threatened their energy sources, raised prices, as well as potential agricultural problems, such as the ability to export grain." Takala countered that perception, emphasizing, "Nowhere in this agreement guaranteed that there was going to be a removal. It was simply the study of how those services might be replaced."

Takala highlighted the broader benefits of the tribes' work.

"The work that the tribes are doing is not only fulfilling our needs as people of these lands and the treaties that have been signed, it's also a benefit to the rural communities, the Columbia River Basin, the sports fisheries and also the ocean fisheries and the seafood industries," he said.

Lewis emphasized the tribe's commitment to the issue.

"We're not going to do this today. We're not going to do this tomorrow. It might be ten years before we actually come up with a plan to how to make this change. And to make it change would be a positive, not a negative," Lewis said.

The memorandum also described the potential closure of the Snake River Dam as "radical environmentalism," a term Takala said does not accurately represent their work.