Naches Hatchery needs your help again!

[Dslayer]

WDFW has notified the employees at the Naches Hatchery that it will be closed in June 2019.  Below is the thread from 2015 when WDFW threatened to close it,  the pertinent info contained in that thread is still pertinent today with a couple of additions, one being that WDFW has since spent 400,000 on pumps at the facility, a million plus was spend at a local pond to make it handicap accessible, and at ZHS, our partners at the hatchery, Matt Mathes and Kyle Huwe, have helped us make and maintain our own mini-hatchery-those fish were planted in Manastash Lake yesterday.  This redoubling of the effort to close the hatchery is slap in the face to Matt and Kyle who are  committed to providing fishing opportunity to those who enjoy fishing in Region 3.

https://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,173296.msg2293180.html#msg2293180 

In 2015, public outcry, and concern expressed by local legislators helped save the hatchery and we're going to need to do it again.  While this site and it's membership is brought together as hunters, we're first and foremost outdoorsmen, most of us like to get a line wet, and we all understand the value of getting ourselves and kids outdoors and fishing can be a huge part of that. PLEASE join me in contacting your legislators to stop the closure of this vital community asset and resource.

http://app.leg.wa.gov/memberemail/

[HUNTIN4SIX]

WDFW doesn't care about these families losing their homes and income at the same time.  This would be a tragedy for these families and the 53 million in revenue this hatchery generates.  Most don't understand how important these trout hatcheries are, not to mention how cost effective they are to operate.  How about start with a reduction in spending and hiring?

[Naches Sportsman]

Wouldn't do me any good to complain as I am no longer a Washington resident, but will spread the word. The fish hatchery is important for the 98937 community and Yakima County youth.

[Dslayer]

Update on the so called plan to stock Region 3 according to Kelly Cunningham and Mike Livingston, Regional Director.  Supposedly they plan to stock Region 3 with fish from Mossyrock and Eells Springs which is in Shelton-hoping to make up for 85% of the fish.  Part of the story that they're not telling is that they'd have to give up a contract they have with Tacoma Power for 65,000 fish to create the pond space for Region 3 fish-there's no way in the world they will do that.  So by the time you feed those fish and truck them over the pass, have to hire temporary workers, it costs the same if not more than to leave the Naches Hatchery open-but they're never going to give up that contract to Tacoma Power anyway-too much $-so there won't be anywhere near enough fish to make up what is lost.

Also,  the plan for the High Lakes is that those fish will come from Spokane and Chelan-no plan for how those fish will actually get into the lakes-but clearly the cost to truck them and use WDFW personnel to pack them will cost way more than it's costing to raise them and pack from Naches right now. The high lakes fishery in Region 3 is the most cost efficient fishery in the state. Fish are raised and fed for only three months, then mostly packed in by volunteers. There is no plan to replace kokanee production.  And, of course, educational opportunities for Zillah students for stocking, raising fish and field trips are done.

Makes you wonder how this agency is only $30 million in the hole with this kind of thinking.  As you can see, though, the plan to close the hatchery  is way more thought out than  it was in 2015 and WDFW is committed to enacting it.  Please contact your legislators, or the acting director, Joe Stohr at director@dfw.wa.gov.

HUNTIN4SIX-I can't even begin to speak about the stress this sort if idiocy puts on families-last thing that WDFW management cares about.  The hatchery and their employees are an important part of the fabric of the community, they touch thousands of people with most of us not even knowing who they are, but we know they're doing the work that give us reason to get outdoors-they have an enormous impact on a very large part of the citizenry that values the opportunities their work provides us.  If I had never gotten to know Matt and Kyle, I would still appreciate their work and the opportunity they provide, but what they've done working with us and students is extraordinary-well beyond what their job requires.  They have kids, too, and are outdoorsmen themselves and appreciate what's done for their kids' lives.  Their only sadness is that more schools don't use them as a resource.  Matt and Kyle should being held up by WDFW as a model for their employees and state employees in general-not getting crapped on.

[HUNTIN4SIX]

I agree dslayer.  These other hatcheries could not carry those extra fish and then pay for all the extra trucking and staffing.

[B4noon]

leave it to WDFW to once again reduce opportunity for license buyers.  They continue to lobby for higher license fees and try and balance a budget on the backs of the hunters and outdoor recreational fishermen all while at the same time reducing the chance to play.  The hunting cut backs were getting bad enough looks like if you live in region 3 no sense buying a fishing license after this year.  Maybe they will use all the uninhabited lakes in region 3 to create populations of western pond turtles and those 3 toed salamander things there always studying terrible i get the hint they don't want to see me or my kids enjoying the outdoors maybe they will create a facebook or instagram fishing app so we can sit on the couch with our faces glued to our phones like the old days before we were all obese.

[Dslayer]

leave it to WDFW to once again reduce opportunity for license buyers.  They continue to lobby for higher license fees and try and balance a budget on the backs of the hunters and outdoor recreational fishermen all while at the same time reducing the chance to play.

B4noon-I wanted to focus on this aspect of your comment which is 100% accurate.  Trout, catchables/Jumbos/high lakes fry are stocked with the intention that 100% of them will/can be caught by license buyers-that's the only guarantee like that can be made regarding any fishery in the state. Of course, not all of them are caught.  So the cost of the Naches Hatchery, and the trout hatchery in Omak that is also threatened with closure provides a  potential 100% benefit to the license buyer.  That can't be said about any other fishery or wildlife program in the state. What's killing WDFW is their 'administrative costs.'   Thought the actual expenditure to run the Naches Hatchery is around 200,000 annually, WDFW claims another 50,000 in administrative costs in the Yakima office and Olympia.  Administrative overhead to run the Tacoma Power fishery mentioned above is 31%.  I'm not a financial wizard, but I think I can figure out what the problem is here.

In the thread from 2015, about 3 posts down, I attached a file on a 2004 study WDFW on the economic benefits of the hatcheries, it's worth looking at.

[Dslayer]

Article in the Yakima Herald:

http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/state-could-pull-plug-on-naches-fish-hatchery-as-way/article_72e4b770-6ae0-11e8-a2ae-c7e331df53b2.html

Thanks to those of you who have contacted your legislators.  We need to keep the pressure on, although it is clear from Norm Johnson's comments that the message has been heard.  The last time WDFW pulled this on the Naches Hatchery, they did it when the legislature was in session and the response and reaction was more immediate and the hatchery was kept open.  This time the strategy appears to be an earlier announcement, weather the storm, figuring by the time legislature meets again next January this will be on backburner of the public and thus the legislators.

I could tear apart the responses in the article by WDFW 'official's line by line (bureaucrats being bureaucrats and all that entails) but simply there is no feasible  plan that will replace  the fish stocked by the Naches Hatchery, thus people who fish Region 3 waters will be harmed, the economy of Region 3 will be harmed, and the high lakes fishery will be gone.  WDFW 'officials' waving their magic wand with 'the plan,' will not make it so.

Again, thanks to all who have contacted your legislators and a thanks in advance to all those who will continue to keep the pressure on.   

[curtdiesel]

I was emailed back by my Senator's office.  They provided details on the next WDFW meeting scheduled to discuss hatchery reform next Friday, June 15th at 1pm.

https://wdfw.wa.gov/commission/meetings/2018/06/agenda_jun1318.html

I have to work and it would be a very long drive to Olympia for me.  Perhaps a few people from the left side of our state could swing by?

Curt

[curtdiesel]

Penny from Senator Honeyford's office said it would be helpful if a few people could show up tomorrow afternoon.  Dslayer are you or any of your students able to go?  Anyone else planning or able to attend for us?  I cannot get away from work tomorrow.

Thanks,

Curt

[Dslayer]

Regretably, I have family obligations that I can't slough off or I'd be there.  I would have liked to have watched this circus.  Word is out that more hatcheries are slated to be closed. 

[Dslayer]

The latest hijinks by the WDFW regarding closing the Naches Hatchery.  They literally made up a lie about the condition of the hatchery.


http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/state-officials-say-it-would-cost-millions-to-keep-the/article_a72c4f80-9091-11e8-871f-4bed9f9f0184.html

If you're a Region 3 sportsman, or come to Region 3 to recreate, or if you're just fed up with the high handed way that WDFW administration goes about conducting its 'business,' please contact the Wildlife Commission and let them know how you feel.

wdfw.wa.gov/commission/contact.html

Below is a copy of an email I sent to Commission after the June Wildlife Commission meeting in which Budget Director Nate Pamplin made the claim to the Commission that the hatchery needed 2.3 million dollars in repair and was in a dilapidated condition.  (I made an error in using 2.5 million vs. 2.3 million) A bit of a long read, but its accurate in the particulars regarding the hatchery.  14th District State Senator Curtis King has taken the time to tour the facility and knows what I know, that the hatchery is in excellent condition. Other  good news is that a good young reporter on the Yakima Herald named Luke Thompson is taking the bull by the horns and holding WDFW accountable.  But our voices count and need to be heard.  Thanks!


Dear Members of the Commission,

 Since DFW administration wants to use the lie that the Naches Hatchery needs 2.5 million dollars to fix non-existent water problems as justification to close the hatchery I find it necessary to inform you as to the truth of the water situation at the Naches Hatchery. The hatchery uses a horizontal filtration well system that produces 1250 to 1800 gpm the fluctuation due to the seasonal flow of the nearby Naches River. This system has functioned effectively since the late 1980's. In 2015 in late summer/early fall, the Hatchery experienced low water flows falling to 700 gpm. That level of water flow could have sustained fish at the hatchery due to their small size, but it was decided to move the fish to Moses Lake and using money available from the Department of Ecology, two vertical wells were drilled. Unfortunately, advice from hatchery personnel was ignored as to the location and type of wells to be made, vertical vs horizontal. The new wells combined produced only 180 gpm and draw what little they produce from the existing wells, causing them to be shut down, a waste of $400,000. As you know, 2015 was a year of minimal snowpack, very little precipitation in the spring and winter and then, additionally, upstream from the hatchery, Yakima County performed dike work that diverted the flow of the river to the north upsetting the groundwater/water table. In retrospect a combination of events caused the low water flow of fall 2015. Since then, flow has returned to normal levels, between 1250 and 1800 gpm, easily sufficient to sustain the Hatchery. In fact, with the current flow of water, Regional Fish Biologists were in the process of making a capital budget request to build another rearing pond on the site and raise an additional 30,000 fish. Clearly, the people closest to the Naches Hatchery were unconcerned about the flow of water.

 Thus, you can imagine the surprise and shock of hatchery personnel when they heard of the supposed need of 2.5 million dollars worth of improvements to 'fix' the water flow problem of the Naches Hatchery. What makes this even more astounding is that in the years since 2015, no one from DFW Fisheries has spoken to hatchery personnel about the water flow but now are using this supposed problem as further justification for closing the hatchery. It is the belief of hatchery personnel who have lived and worked many years in this area that the event of 2015 was an anomalous event and want nothing further done to increase the water flow. I can only speculate as to why DFW administration would perpetuate the lie about the water flow or the assertion that seems to be being made at the last commission meeting that the Naches Hatchery is in a dilapidated condition. I visit the hatchery on a regular basis to pick up fish for high lake fish plants and school field trips and I can tell you with certainty that is well managed, well functioning and the grounds and homes there are well kept. Again, I can only speculate as to why DFW would choose to perpetuate the lies about water flow and the condition of the hatchery, and I don't like any answers that I arrive at which are; 1)that DFW administration arrogantly believes that the people of this state and its representatives are stupid, 2) they can use the supposed condition of the Hatchery as a bargaining ploy to wrest more money from the legislature. In either event, they are sadly mistaken. I am certain that the Wildlife Commission can see, as it has in the case of the Omak Hatchery, that the Naches Hatchery is an important part of our community in Region 3, a community of outdoorsmen, businesses, schools, and working people who see the hatchery as the asset that it is' an integral part of the lifestyle of Region 3. I certainly hope that Commission will put an end to this posturing and arrogant behavior of DFW administration immediately and announce that the Naches Hatchery will not be closed and will not be threatened in the future. As I have stated in previous emails, this behavior continues to threaten DFW's already diminished stature with the public and the legislature. I imagine each will take a dim view of the lies being perpetuated by DFW administration to close the Naches Hatchery.

[Dslayer]

Good news today.  The Wildlife Commission voted to move the Naches Hatchery from one of definite closure in June 2019, now to a position of being at risk, and not slated for immediate closure.  I listened to the discussion on wtv.org and it's clear that the message the Commission has heard the message from sportsmen loud and clear-don't mess with the hatcheries.  Senator Curtis King deserves a special thanks for the time he and his staff have put in to protect the hatchery, Sen. King appeared before the Commission this morning.  Thanks to all of you who made your voices heard to your legislators and the commission.  The fight is not necessarily over, but your message was sent, delivered and heard.  Sometimes in a world of mindless bureaucracy, the good guys win one.

Thanks again!

Kekoa Gabriel

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

 

[Dslayer]

Article in 8/15 Yakima Herald:

http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/budget-request-to-keep-naches-fish-hatchery-open-goes-to/article_7af206de-a04b-11e8-ac6a-27bbc6021ee8.html