Federal judge in Oregon rejects bid to overturn Biden-era agreement to protect endangered fish populations

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A federal judge in Oregon sided with salmon against the Trump administration on Wednesday, ordering the federal government to change hydropower system operations long considered at the heart of native fish populations’ sharp decline.

At the center of the dispute are eight dams and reservoirs on the Columbia and Snake Rivers in the Pacific north-west that have created devastating obstacles for salmon and steelhead unable to breach their deadly turbines or navigate through the large, warm, artificial pools. The federal agencies and their supporters, which include a group of utilities, water managers and farming organizations, argued that reservoir drawdown would put power reliability in peril.

Nathan Chasing Horse, who had part in Dances with Wolves, accused in trial that spotlights influence of ‘medicine men’

After learning she was of Lakota descent around 1996, Melissa Leone, who was adopted, hungered to connect to her Native American tribe.

“I was grabbing a hold of any and all connections that felt good or safe,” she said.