Press Release: City of Seattle Settles “Rights of Nature” Case Filed by the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe – Agrees to Create Fish Passage Through Skagit River Dams

May 2, 2023

CONTACT:

Jack Fiander, General Counsel, Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe, towtnuklaw@msn.com

Thomas Linzey, Senior Legal Counsel, Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights, tal@pa.net

On April 19, 2023, the City of Seattle settled one of the first “rights of nature” cases filed in the United States. That case, brought in 2022 by the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe, with salmon as a plaintiff, sought a declaratory judgment recognizing the legal rights of salmon and declaring that the lack of fish passage measures at the City’s dams harmed the Tribe’s culture and traditions, religion, and Treaty rights.    

At the time of settlement, the case was pending within the Sauk-Suiattle Tribal Court of Appeals, with an April 30 deadline looming for Seattle to submit its application for renewal of its federal license to operate its hydroelectricity generating dams on the Skagit River.

As part of the settlement, the City – as the federal licensee for several Skagit River hydroelectric dams that feed power to Seattle – agreed to include in its hydropower license renewal application a fish passage program. That provision, filed by the City with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on April 28, commits the City to construct, operate, and maintain upstream and downstream fish passage facilities at some or all of the dams as informed by coordination with tribes and federal agencies. As recited in the settlement stipulation, neither party admitted the merits of either party’s claims, rather their agreement “was based upon their relationship of mutual respect and consultation.”  The purpose of the fish passage is to “meaningfully contribute to recovering self-sustaining, harvestable salmon runs in the Skagit River watershed.”

Jack Fiander, tribal lawyer for the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe, explained, “This settlement agreement creates a roadmap for the creation of a fish passage system to return salmon to their native ecosystem and restore the lifeblood of the tribes. It is truly a watershed moment happening as the result of a joint effort by the Skagit River Treaty tribes, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the United States Department of the Interior to protect the salmon. It’s time for the rights of fish and other species around the globe to be represented, just like the voice of the tribes needs to be honored.”

Mari Margil, Executive Director of the Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights (CDER), which assisted with the lawsuit, declared, “We hope that this is the first of many rights of nature cases that result in real, practical steps toward protecting the rights of ecosystems and species. The Sauk-Suiattle Tribe’s pursuit of this lawsuit, coupled with the continuing, decades-long efforts of the Skagit River Tribes to enforce the rights of tribal members, created the environment for this settlement to happen. It sets a framework for other campaigns to follow.”

The City of Seattle’s current FERC license expires on April 30, 2025. A new license is necessary for the City to continue operating the dams.

Background on the Rights of Salmon Case

The Sauk-Suiattle rights of salmon case was brought as several tribal nations, as well as communities within the U.S., Canada, and Brazil, and countries including Ecuador and Bangladesh, have recognized the legal rights of nature through lawmaking and court rulings. In August 2021, the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, in Minnesota, became the first tribe to bring a case to enforce the legal rights of nature in a tribal court.

The Sauk-Suiattle Tribe, known as the Sahkuméhu, ceded their aboriginal territory to the federal government through the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott.  As explained in the court filing, despite the Tribe’s treaty-protected right and obligation to protect fish migrating to and from the Tribe’s traditional fishing grounds, the City of Seattle constructed dams on the Skagit River without consulting with any tribe. The dams, the lawsuit argues, obstruct the passage of adult fish upriver, and block nutrients necessary to the health of juvenile fish as they migrate down the length of the river on their way to the ocean, contributing to the severe decline of salmon species.   

The Skagit River provides habitat for all five wild salmon species, including two that are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. In addition, the Southern Resident killer whales in Puget Sound, which depend on salmon from the river, were listed as endangered in 2005.  

A copy of the lawsuit and more information on the case may be found at this link.  

To learn more about the rights of nature movement, including laws, court rulings, and enforcement efforts in the U.S. and around the world, visit CDER’s website: centerforenvironmentalrights.org.

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