Tribal Lands: Opportunities Exist to Improve Conditions of Columbia River Fishing Access Sites

What GAO Found Safety and sanitation conditions have been long-standing concerns at fishing access sites that the federal government developed, beginning in the 1950s, for four Tribes with treaty fishing rights in the Columbia River Basin. In 2011, the federal government completed its development of 31 sites, 29 of which are administered by the Department of the Interior. As of February 2026, Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Northwest Regional Office had spent $17.3 million since 2020 to assess site conditions and design and construct sanitation and safety improvement projects.