美國第9巡迴上訴庭法官於4月9日駁回布希政府為哥倫比亞河（Columbia River）與蛇河下游（Lower Snake River）水壩工程提出的鮭魚保育計畫。上訴法庭維持先前法庭的宣判結果，認定該計畫因未遵守「瀕危物種法案」而違法。
湯馬士（Thomas）法官在判決書中寫到：「瀕危物種法案不該被選擇性遵守。」並裁定，「主管機關不可忽略自身遵守瀕危物種法案的職責…反而有明確責任以符合瀕危物種法案的要求為優先考量。」
代表漁業與保育團體、來自地球正義（Earth Justice）協會的控方律師馬煦達（Mashuda），盛讚法庭的判決結果：「這個決定將迫使聯邦政府正視所有以復育為目標的選項，包括移除蛇河下游的4個水壩，以及研擬出人類與鮭魚都能接受的解決方案。」
春夏洄游到蛇河的野生北太平洋鮭魚（chinook salmon）曾經一度超過每年150萬隻，佔整個哥倫比亞盆地春夏鮭魚洄游數量的二分之一強。
控方的環保團體長期主張蛇河下游的4個聯邦水壩均應部份拆除，以確保鮭魚的復育行動。保育人士表示，死於（下花崗壩、小鵝壩、下碑壩與冰港壩）這4個水壩的鮭魚比死於捕魚業者之手的還多，高達92%洄游出海的魚群，與25%洄溯上游產卵的魚群皆難逃厄運。
在1960與70年代蛇河下游水壩完工前，每年春夏洄游鮭魚往往超過6萬隻。而2006年，總共僅有1萬7千隻鮭魚越過蛇河下游的下花崗壩（Lower Granite Dam），顯示蛇河春夏洄游鮭魚自1992年開始受瀕危物種法案保護後，情況並未明顯改善。
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Monday rejected the Bush administration's salmon plan for dam operations on the Columbia and lower Snake rivers. The appellate court upheld a lower court ruling that the plan was illegal because it failed to comply with the Endangered Species Act, ESA.
Writing that "ESA compliance is not optional," Judge Sidney Thomas ruled that "agencies may not disregard their ESA duties. ... Rather, they have an affirmative duty to satisfy the ESA's requirements, as a first priority."
Attorney Steve Mashuda of Earthjustice, representing the plaintiff fishing business and conservation groups, applauded the court's ruling. "This decision should compel the federal agencies to look at all recovery options - including removing the four lower Snake River dams, and develop a solution that works for people and fish."
Returns of wild Snake River spring/summer chinook once exceeded 1.5 million fish annually, accounting for more than half of the entire Columbia Basin's spring/summer chinook run.
The plaintiff environmental groups have long held that each of four federal dams on the lower Snake River should be partially removed so that salmon restoration can be effective.
Conservationists say the Lower Granite Dam, the Little Goose Dam, the Lower Monumental Dam and the Ice Harbor Dam kill more salmon than fishermen do - as many as 92 percent of the salmon headed out to sea, and up to another 25 percent on their way back upstream to spawn.
Prior to the completion of the lower Snake River dams in the 1960s and '70s, spring/summer chinook returns often topped 60,000 per year.
Last year, only about 17,000 total fish returned past Lower Granite Dam on the lower Snake River, a number that represents little improvement from 1992, when Snake River spring/summer chinook were first protected by the Endangered Species Act.
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