Presidential Documents

67617 

Federal Register 

Vol. 88, No. 189 

Monday, October 2, 2023 

Title 3— 

The President 

Memorandum of September 27, 2023 

Restoring Healthy and Abundant Salmon, Steelhead, and 

Other Native Fish Populations in the Columbia River Basin 

Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies 

The Columbia River and its tributaries, wetlands, and estuaries are the 

lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest, providing abundant water, power, recreation, agriculture, transportation, and natural resources that have supported 

livelihoods, cultural and spiritual practices, commerce, and economic growth. 

The salmon, steelhead, and other native fish populations in the Columbia 

River Basin (Basin) are essential to the culture, economy, and way of life 

of Tribal Nations in the region and Indigenous peoples in Canada, and 

also provide an important food source for endangered orca, which are sacred 

to many Tribal Nations in the region. In 1855, the United States and four 

of the Tribal Nations of the Basin entered into treaties specifying that these 

Tribal Nations reserved the right to harvest fish on their reservations and 

at all usual and accustomed places. At that time, an estimated 7.5 to 16 

million adult salmon and steelhead returned to the Basin each year. 

Actions since 1855, including the Federal Government’s construction and 

operation of dams in the Basin, have severely depleted fish populations. 

Thirteen salmon and steelhead populations are listed as threatened or endangered, other populations of those fish have been extirpated, and other native 

fish populations have also declined, causing substantial harm to Tribal Nations and other communities reliant on salmon and steelhead. Despite decades of hard work, ingenuity, expense, and commitment across Federal, 

Tribal, State, and local governments and a wide range of stakeholders, the 

populations of salmon, steelhead, and other native fish populations in the 

Basin continue to decline or have not recovered to the level that would 

warrant removing any population from the list of threatened and endangered 

species. 

It is time for a sustained national effort to restore healthy and abundant 

native fish populations in the Basin. For these reasons, and by the authority 

vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United 

States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: 

Section 1. Policy. It is a priority of my Administration to honor Federal 

trust and treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations—including to those Tribal 

Nations harmed by the construction and operation of Federal dams that 

are part of the Columbia River System (CRS)—and to carry out the requirement of the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation 

Act (Public Law 96–501) to operate, manage, and regulate the CRS to adequately protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife affected by the 

Federal dams in the Basin in a manner that provides equitable treatment 

for fish and wildlife with the other purposes for which the Federal dams 

are managed and operated. 

In recognition of these priorities, it is the policy of my Administration 

to work with the Congress and with Tribal Nations, States, local governments, 

and stakeholders to pursue effective, creative, and durable solutions, informed by Indigenous Knowledge, to restore healthy and abundant salmon, 

steelhead, and other native fish populations in the Basin; to secure a clean 

and resilient energy future for the region; to support local agriculture and 

its role in food security domestically and globally; and to invest in the 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with FR_PREZDOC0
67618 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 189 / Monday, October 2, 2023 / Presidential Documents 

communities that depend on the services provided by the Basin’s Federal 

dams to enhance resilience to changes to the operation of the CRS, including 

those necessary to address changing hydrological conditions due to climate 

change. 

Sec. 2. Federal Implementation. (a) All executive departments and agencies 

(agencies) with applicable authorities and responsibilities, including the Department of the Interior, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau 

of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the United States Fish 

and Wildlife Service, and the United States Geological Survey; the Department of Agriculture, including the United States Forest Service and the 

Natural Resources Conservation Service; the Department of Commerce, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the Department of Energy, including the Bonneville Power Administration; the Department of the Army, including the United States Army Corps of Engineers; 

and the Environmental Protection Agency, are directed to utilize their authorities and available resources to advance the policy established in section 

1 of this memorandum. 

(b) Within 120 days of the date of this memorandum, all agencies with 

applicable authorities and responsibilities, including those agencies identified 

in subsection (a) of this section, shall review their programs affecting salmon, 

steelhead, and other native fish populations in the Basin, including any 

program with authority or responsibility with respect to the CRS, for consistency with the policy established in section 1 of this memorandum. As 

soon as practicable following such review, agencies shall, consistent with 

applicable law, identify and initiate any steps necessary to advance that 

policy. 

(c) Within 220 days of the date of this memorandum, all agencies with 

applicable authorities and responsibilities, including those agencies identified 

in subsection (a) of this section, shall provide the Director of the Office 

of Management and Budget (Director) an assessment of the agency’s programs 

that can advance the policy established in section 1 of this memorandum 

and the resources such programs need for this purpose. Based on the assessment, each agency shall prioritize these activities to the extent feasible 

in their program and budget planning. 

Sec. 3. Intergovernmental Partnership. The Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (Chair) and the Director shall explore opportunities and 

mechanisms to develop an intergovernmental partnership, including through 

a memorandum of understanding, to advance the policy established in section 

1 of this memorandum within the United States; the States of Oregon, 

Washington, Montana, and Idaho; the Tribal Nations of the Basin, including 

the Columbia Basin Treaty Tribes (the Nez Perce Tribe, the Confederated 

Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Indian Nation, the Confederated Tribes 

of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, and the Confederated Tribes 

of the Umatilla Indian Reservation); the Upper Columbia United Tribes 

(the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Coeur d’Alene 

Tribe of Indians, the Spokane Tribe of Indians, the Kalispel Tribe of Indians, 

and the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho); the Upper Snake River Tribes (the Burns 

Paiute Tribe, the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation, and the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes 

of the Duck Valley Reservation); and other Tribal Nations, as appropriate. 

Within 120 days of the date of this memorandum, the Chair and the Director 

shall submit a report to the President with an update on progress in developing this intergovernmental partnership. 

Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect the ability of heads of agencies to 

meet the requirements of sections 2 and 3 of this memorandum before 

the deadlines in those sections or to produce additional materials not specifically requested in this memorandum. 

(b) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise 

affect: 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with FR_PREZDOC0
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 189 / Monday, October 2, 2023 / Presidential Documents 67619 

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, 

or the head thereof; or 

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. 

(c) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable 

law and subject to the availability of appropriations. 

(d) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right 

or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by 

any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, 

its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. 

(e) Independent agencies are strongly encouraged to comply with the 

provisions of this memorandum. 

Sec. 5. Publication. The Chair is hereby authorized and directed to publish 

this memorandum in the Federal Register. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, 

Washington, September 27, 2023 

[FR Doc. 2023–21882 

Filed 9–29–23; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3125–W0–P 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with FR_PREZDOC0BIDEN.EPS</GPH>