A long-standing partnership that has helped support salmon fishing opportunities throughout the lower Columbia River is coming to an end after the Bonneville Power Administration announced it will discontinue its financial support for the Select Area Fisheries Enhancement, or SAFE, Program at the close of the 2026 federal fiscal year.
The decision, outlined in a letter sent June 18 to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Dr. Debbie Colbert, means BPA will not renew its cost-share agreement for the program after Sept. 30. The move marks the conclusion of more than three decades of federal participation in a project that has become a cornerstone of hatchery-supported recreational and commercial fisheries in the Columbia estuary.
The announcement is expected to create significant financial challenges for Oregon, Washington and local partners that have relied on BPA funding to sustain hatchery production supporting the SAFE Program. While the program itself is not ending immediately, officials will now be faced with identifying alternative funding sources if operations are to continue at their current scale.
Established in 1993 as an experimental conservation initiative, the SAFE Program was designed with a specific purpose. By raising hatchery salmon for release into off-channel areas of the lower Columbia River, fisheries managers hoped anglers and commercial fishing fleets would concentrate their harvest in those locations rather than targeting mixed-stock fisheries in the mainstem Columbia. The strategy was intended to reduce incidental harvest of weak and federally protected salmon populations while preserving fishing opportunities for local communities.
Over the years, the program succeeded in expanding fishing opportunities in designated terminal areas, generating economic activity for ports, bait shops, marinas, charter operators and coastal communities that depend on seasonal salmon fisheries.
BPA, however, concluded that while the program successfully increased harvest opportunities, it has not demonstrated the conservation benefits originally envisioned when federal funding began.
In its letter, the agency stated there is “no direct evidence” that expanded off-channel fisheries have reduced harvest impacts on weak or Endangered Species Act-listed salmon stocks migrating through the Columbia River’s mainstem.
Agency officials further determined that the SAFE Program has gradually shifted away from its original conservation mission. According to BPA, the program’s current objectives focus primarily on replacing lost fishing opportunities and maximizing harvest rather than providing measurable mitigation for fish affected by the Federal Columbia River Power System.
The agency wrote that while the program seeks to minimize impacts on vulnerable fish populations, avoiding additional harm “does not amount to providing an actual benefit for the fish that migrate through the federal mainstem dams.”
That distinction became central to BPA’s decision.
Because the Bonneville Power Administration’s Fish and Wildlife Program exists to mitigate environmental impacts created by the federal hydropower system, agency leaders concluded that continued investment in the SAFE Program no longer aligns with its statutory mission.
Officials also pointed to geography as another factor influencing the decision. The SAFE Program operates primarily in off-channel areas below Bonneville Dam, while BPA says regional conservation priorities increasingly emphasize rebuilding salmon populations that originate upstream of the dam.
Although the Northwest Power and Conservation Council recently recommended continued funding for the SAFE Program, BPA emphasized that council recommendations do not guarantee federal financial support. The agency determined that, despite those recommendations, continued participation was not an appropriate use of Fish and Wildlife Program funding.
The announcement did not come entirely without warning.
According to BPA, regional fisheries managers have been advised for years that the SAFE Program should eventually transition away from dependence on federal cost-share funding. The agency noted that discussions about creating a self-sustaining financial model date back at least to 2011.
Instead of becoming less dependent on BPA support, the program has become increasingly reliant on it in recent years, particularly after Washington began reducing its own participation beginning in 2024.
That growing dependence ultimately became another factor supporting the agency’s decision to withdraw funding.
Despite ending its financial role, BPA made clear that its decision should not be interpreted as criticism of the program itself or the agencies responsible for operating it.
“This decision is not a critique of the SAFE program’s role in enhancing local fisheries,” the letter states.
The agency acknowledged the program’s longstanding contribution to recreational and commercial fishing and expressed appreciation for the work performed by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Clatsop County. BPA also wished the organizations success as they determine how the program will move forward without federal cost-share assistance.
For fisheries managers across the Pacific Northwest, the announcement signals the beginning of a new chapter. Whether state agencies can secure replacement funding or reshape the SAFE Program will likely determine the future of hatchery-supported salmon fisheries that thousands of anglers and commercial fishermen have come to depend upon over the past three decades.
As the September deadline approaches, attention will increasingly shift toward how Oregon, Washington and regional partners respond to one of the most significant funding changes to Columbia River fisheries management in recent years.