Trump revokes Biden's order for 'equitable treatment of fish'

President Trump on Thursday rescinded President Biden’s order demanding the “equitable treatment of fish” and directing the federal government to restore the once-abundant fish population of the Columbia River Basin in the Pacific Northwest.

Mr. Trump ordered relevant federal agencies to withdraw from agreements to replace the fish population.

Mr. Biden’s 2023 order required the federal government to spend millions of dollars and comply with environmental regulations that would likely have resulted in the breach or removal of 14 dams on the Columbia River system to restore river flow and rebuild the basin’s fish population.

The Trump administration said dam breaching is an unnecessary taxpayer expense that would have “reduced water supply to farmers, eliminated several shipping channels, increased energy costs, had devastating impacts on agriculture and eliminated recreational opportunities throughout the region.”

“President Trump continues to prioritize our nation’s energy infrastructure and use of natural resources to lower the cost of living for all Americans over speculative climate change concerns,” the White House said

The White House also said the order will balance environmental concerns while honoring Mr. Trump’s commitment to lowering energy costs.

In an unprecedented move, Mr. Biden directed federal agencies to prioritize available resources to address the depletion of the region’s once-abundant populations of wild salmon, steelhead and other native fish that have declined substantially since the mid-1800s. Mr. Biden ordered the agencies to assess necessary further actions for restoration, including a possible dam breach for the dams in the system.

The Biden memorandum said that federal actions, population growth, overfishing and dam installation all contributed to the basin’s dwindling ecosystem, raising the possibility of dam removal to protect migrating fish. Among the basin’s most populous fish at the time, 13 were listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

As part of the directive, Mr. Biden wrote that the government would protect fish and wildlife “affected by federal dams in the basin in a manner that provides equitable treatment for fish and wildlife.”

In December 2024, the Biden administration announced an environmental impact review for the dams.