Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Obama Administration has reversed course and decided to restore funding for a widely supported salmon program. Rob Manning reports.

The Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund helps salmon and steelhead efforts from Alaska to California to Idaho. When western tribal and congressional representatives learned of plans to zero-out that fund, they immediately complained.

Now, the Obama Administration has agreed to bring it back. Charles Hudson, with the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission, says the cut was basically a rookie mistake for the new White House.

Charles Hudson: “It’s perplexing to us, and we chalk it up a bit, as a learning experience to the Obama Administration.”

The salmon fund is still not getting the lmoney it’s had in the past. Currently, it’s at 50 million dollars. Hudson says tribal leaders will press Congress to put at least 80 million in the salmon fund.

The dust-up comes as a Portland judge is pressuring the federal government to commit more money for threatened salmon in the Columbia and Snake Rivers.