Contacts
Laurie Gucinski
or
Dale Bast 715-372-8510
The U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service invites the public to attend an open house at the Iron
River National Fish Hatchery on Saturday, August 13, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Hatchery staff will provide guided tours of the hatchery facility, show brook
and lake trout they are raising, and answer questions about the Service’s
Fisheries Program. Information booths will be set up to display information
from other Fish and Wildlife Service offices and agency partners. Participants
will also be invited to a formal ceremony to dedicate the new buildings at
2 p.m.
The Iron River
National Fish Hatchery was originally built in 1979 with the first fish stocked
out in 1983. To protect the fish from predation and sun damage, two air-filled
domes were installed over the raceways in 1991 and 1992. Due to heavy snow
loads, these domes collapsed 6 times over the next several years. Safety
concerns for people and equipment led to the replacement of the domes with
the metal buildings. Construction of the buildings began in May of 2004 and
was completed in November 2004. These new buildings have survived their first
Northland winter without incident and the fish are actually happier in the
darker buildings!
For further
information on the open house, call 715-372-8510, or e-mail Laurie Gucinski
at Laurie_Gucinski@fws.gov .
The Iron River Hatchery is located about 7 miles north of Iron River. Follow
County A north of U.S. 2 to Fairview Road, where you will see directional
signs.
The U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving,
protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for
the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre
National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife
refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas.
It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 63 Fish and Wildlife Management
offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal
wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory
bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and
restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments
with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance
program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes
on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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