MEDIA ADVISORY -- PRIVATE JOHN ALLEN NATIONAL FISH HATCHERY CELEBRATES NATIONAL FISHING AND BOATING WEEK AND THE HATCHERY’S 100TH ANNIVERSARY

WHEN:

Saturday June 15, 2002 8:00 am to 4 pm

WHAT: All Day Hatchery Centennial Celebration Featuring:

*

A Fishing Derby for kids 12 and under - Kids should bring their own poles or rods and reels and bait (no live bait)

* Face Painting

* Plug Golf

* Button Making

* Wildlife Exhibits

* And much, much more.

WHO: Senator Thad Cochran, Jim High, great-grandson of Congressman John Allen, Sam D.Hamilton, Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

WHERE: Private John Allen National Fish Hatchery, 111 Elizabeth Street, Tupelo, MS

BACKGROUND:

Originally named The Tupelo National Fish Hatchery, it was renamed in 1982 for the Congressman who championed the establishment of the hatchery over one hundred years ago, Representative John Allen of the first Mississippi district.

In addition to its standing mission of supporting recreational fishing, the hatchery now carries out inter-jurisdictional stockings of Gulf Coast striped bass, walleye and imperiled species such as paddlefish, alligator gar and lake sturgeon as well as sampling efforts for the endangered Alabama sturgeon.

TO RSVP & FOR DIRECTIONS CALL

: Laura Dobbins 662-842-7341 or e-mail: laura_dobbins@fws.gov