Leftists fuming over Trump’s decision to scrap Biden-era dam removal plan

President Donald Trump just threw a lifeline to the Lower Snake River dams in southeastern Washington, and the ripples are already shaking up the environmental and economic landscape.

Just The News reported that Trump issued a presidential memorandum that scrapped a Biden-era deal contemplating the removal of these four dams, Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower Granite, prompting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to halt talks on breaching them.

For 25 years, groups like Earthjustice have lobbied to tear down these barriers on the Snake River, part of the Columbia Basin stretching from Clarkston to Pasco, claiming it’s the only way to protect dwindling fish populations.

“The Trump administration is turning its back on an unprecedented opportunity to support a thriving Columbia Basin,” said Amanda Goodin, Earthjustice senior attorney, in a sharp critique.

Well, turning its back or just refusing to drown in progressive pipe dreams? The dams aren’t the only factor in salmon decline, and a 2020 environmental impact statement already suggested harmony between man and nature is possible without demolition.

On the flip side, dam supporters argue these structures are the backbone of the region’s economy, powering homes, irrigating farmland, and moving goods like clockwork.

Economic Powerhouse of the Snake River Dams

Sen. Perry Dozier, R-Waitsburg, who’s fought for decades to keep the dams standing, points out how they’ve turned once-barren lands into agricultural goldmines.

“Western Walla Walla County and southeastern Franklin County are some of the most productive grounds around, and that used to just be sagebrush and rattlesnakes,” Dozier explained. That’s not just nostalgia—it’s proof of what infrastructure can do when ideology doesn’t bulldoze common sense.

The numbers back him up: over 60% of Washington’s wheat exports flow through the Columbia-Snake River System, supporting nearly 4,000 jobs, as Michelle Hennings of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers has emphasized.

Beyond crops, the river hauls over 7.3 million tons of cargo yearly—grain, fertilizer, fuel, and more—keeping trucks off crumbling highways and cutting carbon emissions, as noted by Adam Ratliff on his YouTube channel, Armchair Engineer.

“I appreciate that [Trump’s] administration sees the big picture,” Dozier said in a recent news release, praising the barge system’s environmental edge. If we’re serious about green goals, why sabotage a system that’s already reducing road wear and pollution?

Hennings echoed this sentiment, stating, “We appreciate the efforts of the Trump Administration… that will allow dams to remain intact while protecting the integrity of the river system and the salmon populations.”

Salmon Solutions Beyond Dam Destruction

Critics of removal aren’t ignoring salmon struggles—efforts to protect the fish around the dams have been substantial, and Dozier himself has pushed legislation for salmon and riparian recovery, even if it stalled in the state Legislature.

“With dam breaching off the table, I’d like to see the majority of Democrats in our state Legislature join our side of the aisle to address the real threats to the Snake River salmon runs,” Dozier urged. It’s a fair ask—why fixate on dams when predation by birds and marine mammals in the lower Columbia is a glaring issue?

While environmentalists vow to keep fighting, as Goodin pledged to “pursue all available tools to prevent extinction,” the reality is that Trump’s move has shifted the conversation back to a balance over blanket destruction.

Perhaps it’s time to stop chasing utopian eco-fantasies and focus on solutions that don’t tank entire economies—because Washington’s farmers, workers, and energy users deserve a seat at the table too.