Shoshone-Bannock Tribes join Columbia River accord

BOISE - The eastern Idaho-based Shoshone-Bannock Tribes are joining four American Indian tribes in the Columbia River corridor, two states and three federal agencies in an agreement designed to improve fish runs in the Pacific Northwest.

Tribal attorney Bill Bacon says though the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes don't live near the parts of the Columbia, Snake and Salmon rivers where salmon are known to run, they maintain treaty-protected traditional fishing unoccupied land outside the Fort Hall Reservation. And that includes parts of the Salmon and Snake River and their tributaries.

The Yakima Nation, Colville, Warm Springs and Umatilla tribes and bands and federal hydropower regulators entered the agreement earlier this year. It commits federal agencies to give the tribes $900 million to spend toward salmon recovery in exchange for the tribes dropping out of a lawsuit challenging dam operations.

The state of Oregon and the Nez Perce Tribe has also refused to sign on, with tribal leaders saying they believe that removing dams is the best way to protect endangered and threatened fish.

Bacon says the Shoshone-Bannock portion of the agreement still must go through a 30-day comment period with the BPA and it is expected to receive final approval in November. Under the plan, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes will get about $61 million over 10 years to use in restoring and enhancing fish habitat, renovating a hatchery that the tribes will use to breed and stock the rivers with more fish, and other related activities.

The entire plan still must win approval in federal court.