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Contacts:
Simone Anter, Columbia Riverkeeper, (541) 399-5312, simone@columbiariverkeeper.org
Sarah Dyrdahl, American Rivers, (503) 277-3223, sdyrdahl@americanrivers.org

FERC Issues Decision to Permanently Destroy Sacred Tribal Cultural Properties

Tribal government and community opposition is not backing down

January 22, 2026 (Klickitat County, WA) – The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a hydroelectric license to destroy Pushpum, an incredibly sacred site to the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation (Yakama Nation), Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs (Warm Springs), and Nez Perce Tribe. With this license, Rye Development (Rye), backed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, is one step closer to breaking ground on its poorly sited pumped storage development. FERC’s decision was made without adequate Tribal Government consultation and based on an incomplete environmental analysis and review of the development.

“Tribal Nations and environmental organizations have worked tirelessly to stop fossil fuel developments and secure monumental climate legislation in the Pacific Northwest. We refuse to support a sacrifice zone to destroy Native American cultural and sacred sites in the name of combating climate change,” says Simone Anter, senior attorney for Columbia Riverkeeper.

This development is opposed by Yakama Nation and 17 Tribal Governments, the National Congress of American Indians, and Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, both of whom have issued statements and Resolutions opposing the development. In July 2024, the Washington State Environmental Justice Council adopted a statement standing with Yakama Nation in opposition to the development and adopting a policy of free, prior, and informed consent. Because of the enormous environmental justice concerns and unavoidable impacts to irreplaceable Tribal cultural and religious resources, environmental and climate organizations oppose FERC’s decision to issue a final license for this development.

“We are tied to the land, the river, and all the people who come before and after us,” said Pat Arnold, Klickitat County resident and Executive Director at Friends of the White Salmon River. “FERC’s decision is disgraceful in its negligence of this connection and disregard for respecting the fight for protection of all that is sacred.”

The U.S. federal government has an obligation to uphold Tribal sovereignty and self-determination, honoring the trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations. For the Goldendale Pumped Storage development, FERC has failed in this commitment.

“Today’s decision only re-affirms that FERC ignores blatant racism,” says Alyssa Macy, CEO of Washington Conservation Action and citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. “This decision threatens the constitutional power of long-held treaties between the United States and Tribal nations. We will not stand idly by as the Yakama Nation and our environment are sold to the highest bidder.”

“Again and again we see Tribal Nations, environmental, and climate groups asserting that it’s not clean energy if it destroys Tribal cultural resources,” says Sarah Dyrdahl, Northwest Region Director, American Rivers. “Yet today FERC’s decision once more puts the burden of energy development squarely on the shoulders of Tribal Nations who have borne that burden since the Big Dam Era.”

What’s next? We have 30 days to file an application for rehearing with FERC, after FERC rules on that petition, we are free to file an appeal of the final decision in court. The development still requires additional permitting and the Army Corps of Engineers must step up to uphold Tribal sovereignty through denial of water quality permits under the Clean Water Act and robust Tribal consultation that does not allow the approval of a flawed cultural resource management plan. Yakama Nation has been clear: there is no mitigation that could rectify the cultural and environmental destruction this development would cause.

Background:

The project area is within Yakama Nation’s Ceded Land and the area has historically been used by the Yakama Nation, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Bands of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, and the Nez Perce Tribe for hunting, traditional gathering, fishing, camping, and traditional ceremonies.

In spite of documented, irreplaceable sacred cultural resources being located at Juniper Point in Klickitat County, Washington, this area is being proposed by Rye Development to construct a pumped storage facility that includes two reservoirs and corresponding underground infrastructure. This is the third time this area has been targeted for this type of development.

The proposed 62-acre upper reservoir would flood Pushpum, a natural seed bank and the site of rich biodiversity in plant and animal life that once removed can never be fully restored. The loss of this resource would have devastating ecological and cultural impacts. The development also threatens wetlands, groundwater, and wildlife that would negatively impact the broader ecosystem. This includes impacts to golden eagles, little brown bats, smooth desert parsley, and other rare plants, including 15 endangered, threatened or sensitive plant species.

The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) released by FERC is incomplete and inaccurate. It asserted ways to mitigate the destruction of cultural property based on a lack of consultation and culturally insensitive assumptions such as removing archeological sites and revegetating lands elsewhere with a seed mix. The FERC FEIS also did not fully evaluate water quality impacts to the Columbia River watershed and asserted ways to address fish impacts without fully evaluating the extent of the issues.

To satisfy National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) section 106 responsibilities, FERC executed a Programmatic Agreement (PA) with the Advisory Council, Washington State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), and Oregon SHPO on September 19, 2025. During this process, Rye walked away from discussions with the Washington SHPO to identify specific mitigation. From that, Trump-appointees at federal levels worked with Rye’s request for unilateral issuance of the FERC license despite evidence that the PA process was manipulated to exclude or minimize Yakama Nation’s and CTUIR’s comments about the underlying resources. Ultimately, FERC excluded both Tribes as a signatory to the PA, foreclosing the Tribes’ ability to hold the developer accountable to mitigation.