Washington v. United States

On June 11, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a per curiam decision in Washington v. United States. The case arose from a decades-long dispute over whether Washington State violated 1855 treaties with Pacific Northwest tribes by constructing and maintaining hundreds of road culverts that blocked salmon migration, decimating tribal fishing rights. The United States, joined by 21 tribes, successfully sued the state in federal district court, securing an injunction requiring costly culvert corrections. Washington appealed, arguing the treaties did not mandate such extensive infrastructure remedies. The Supreme Court, with Justice Kennedy recused, affirmed the lower court by an equally divided 4-4 vote. This left intact the Ninth Circuit’s ruling that the state must remove or repair fish-blocking culverts to restore treaty-reserved salmon habitats.

The judgment of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals was affirmed by an equally divided Supreme Court. Washington State was required to comply with the district court’s injunction and undertake massive culvert remediation projects to restore salmon runs for tribal fisheries.

Whether the 1855 Stevens Treaties’ guarantee of the right to fish in “usual and accustomed places” imposes a duty on Washington State to dismantle or redesign culverts that impede salmon passage, and whether this treaty-based obligation can justify extensive infrastructure expenditures estimated in the billions of dollars.

The outcome is a landmark affirmation of tribal treaty rights in the modern era. It compelled Washington State to embark on a multibillion-dollar culvert correction program, setting a powerful precedent for tribal resource protection nationwide. The case reinforced the federal government’s trust duty and spurred similar legal actions in other states, while significantly benefiting salmon ecosystem recovery and honoring indigenous cultural and subsistence practices.