LAPWAI, ID — The Nez Perce Tribe issued a public statement Thursday opposing President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement (RCBA), a regional strategy developed to prevent salmon extinction and support tribal and state-led restoration efforts in the Pacific Northwest.

“This action tries to hide from the truth. The Nez Perce Tribe holds a duty to speak the truth for the salmon, and the truth is that extinction of salmon populations is happening now,” said Nez Perce Tribal Chairman Shannon Wheeler.

The RCBA was part of the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI), a plan created by the Nez Perce, Yakama, Umatilla, and Warm Springs tribes in partnership with the states of Washington and Oregon—collectively known as the “Six Sovereigns.” Signed with the federal government in December 2023, the agreement included commitments to restore salmon and steelhead, invest in fishery infrastructure, and uphold tribal treaty rights. It also suspended active litigation involving the Columbia River hydrosystem.

“This remains the shared vision of the states of Washington and Oregon, and the Yakama, Umatilla, Warm Springs and Nez Perce tribes,” Wheeler said. “It is a vision we believe is supported, publicly or privately, by most people in the Northwest. And it is a vision underlaid by the treaties of our Northwest tribes, by the U.S. Constitution that protects those treaties, and by the federal statutes enacted by Congress to protect salmon and other species from extinction.”

For more information about the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative, visit www.nezperce.org.