Centennial All-Access Dock Dedication

Local residents and leaders helped the National Wildlife Refuge System celebrate its Centennial while dedicating a new, all-access fishing dock on May 3, 2003.

The new fishing dock is at the west end of the upper dam. All visitors are welcome to use it, but are asked to give priority to disabled users. The dock was constructed as the result of an Eagle Scout project by a local boy scout. It was completed in partnership with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Canyon County Parks, Recreations, and Waterways; Gem State Fly Fishers; and Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

Invited speakers at the dedication ceremony included Bill Shake, Special Assistant to the Regional Director for the Fish and Wildlife Service; Nate Helm, spokesperson from Senator Larry Craig's office; Josh Tewalt, spokesperson from Representative C.L. Butch Otter's office. There were also representatives from the project partners, including Steve Huffaker, Director of the Idaho Department of Fish & Game; Todd Lakey, Canyon County Commissioner; Monte Katzenburger, Assistant Scout Master for Troop #277 in Caldwell; and Larry Kortan of Gem State Fly Fishers.

The blue goose, symbol of the National Wildlife Refuge System, also made a special appearance at the event to celebrate the new dock and the Centennial. President Teddy Roosevelt began a legacy of conservation when he established the first refuge in 1903 at Pelican Island in Florida. Just six years later in 1909, Teddy Roosevelt established Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge, the 22nd refuge in the System. Deer Flat is now one of 540 national wildlife refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System, the only national network of public lands set aside to conserve fish, wildlife, and plants.

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