Trump budget maintains many Columbia River salmon, environment programs — despite dramatic proposed cuts

By: Henry Brannan

Outlets: The Columbian

Published: February 7, 2026

Words: 1,318

Last Updated: 1 month, 1 week ago

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Columbia River salmon recovery programs fared better in the 2026 federal budget than tribes, advocates, bureaucrats and biologists feared.

President Donald Trump had made major cuts to the programs in 2025.

But those cuts brought together a wide-ranging group of powerful interests around the Columbia River Basin to ask Congress to fund programs such as hatcheries, habitat restoration and sea lion killing.

The rare coalition included both the hydropower lobby and salmon advocates.

“That really …

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