Conduit to Tribal and Environmental Justice? Unpacking Washington v. United States

Department or Administrative Unit

Geography

Document Type

Article

Author Copyright

Copyright 2019 Pease and White. All rights reserved.

Publication Date

1-14-2019

Journal

Ecology Law Quarterly

Abstract

Popularly referred to by the general public in Washington State as “the culvert case,” Washington v. United States (“Washington V”) has ramifications beyond the removal of barrier culverts precluding safe fish passage. This case brought together several lingering and hotly contested legal issues in the Pacific Northwest: the conflicts between federally mandated construction designs and Washington State’s infrastructure and the scope of tribal rights under the Stevens Treaties. Affirming the Ninth Circuit decision, the Supreme Court correctly protected tribal Treaty rights by requiring Washington to replace state-owned, high-priority barrier culverts. Though this decision can also be seen as a victory for salmon populations and tribal rights, arguably this decision could have broader impacts for the legality of dams precluding safe fish passage.

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This article was originally published in Ecology Law Quarterly. The full-text article from the publisher can be found here.

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