Jordan Wheeler, right, and Jordyn Brignam harvest fall chinook in 2016 from nets along the Columbia River. The Biden-Harris administration announced Dec. 14, 2023, a partnership with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Oregon, Washington and three more tribes to bring more than $1 billion in new federal investments to the region.

MISSION — The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation is part of a partnership with President Joe Biden’s administration to support the Columbia River Basin.

The partnership is made up of the Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho, Oregon’s Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation in Washington, and the states of Oregon and Washington in addition to CTUIR. Together, these groups are called the Six Sovereigns and they represent those who rely on the river.

During the next 10 years, the Biden-Harris administration said in a statement Thursday, Dec. 14, the agreement and other funding should bring more than $1 billion in new federal investments to the region.

This money will help with “wild fish restoration in the Columbia River Basin over the next decade,” the statement said, “and facilitate the build-out of at least one to three gigawatts of tribally sponsored clean energy production.”

The Six Sovereigns also released a statement.

“More than just avoiding extinction,” they wrote, “today’s announcement marks a renewed obligation to restoring salmon to healthy and abundant levels, while addressing the services provided by the Federal Columbia River Power System and creating a roadmap for the region to meet growing electricity demand with new, clean energy resources.”

Of the expected $1 billion, the Bonneville Power Administration, which is under the U.S. Department of Energy, will invest $300 million during the 10 years, which will go toward restoring native fish and habitats in the region. Of that, one third — $100 million — would be earmarked for fish restoration projects and the other $200 million would go toward upgrades, modernization and maintenance.

Additionally, the U.S. Department of Energy will support developing one to three gigawatts of tribally sponsored clean energy projects. These projects would build energy infrastructure so that tribes would be prepared to replace dam power as needed while moving the region toward the administration’s energy goals, which focus on clean, or renewable, energy such as wind, water and solar power.