Unsubstantiated hatchery elimation posts? I don't think so. Here is a Tri-Cities Herald article describing concern over WDFW's lack of commitment to hatcheries. Visit the hatcheries and it is obvious. Money is not being made available to them.


Editorial Note: GO KENNEWICK MAN!!!!!!! You won in court just the other day!!!

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FISH RETURN, BUT CASH SHORT FOR RINGOLD HATCHERY
By Mike Lee
Herald staff writer

RINGOLD -- Clyde Cochlin's Isuzu Trooper seems to know the way here on its own.

He's put 208,000 miles on it, mostly on fishing trips from his Finley home to the Grande Ronde River or this hot spot and hatchery on the Columbia River.

But these days, Cochlin and his fishing buddies wonder just how long the state Fish and Wildlife Department's Ringold Springs facility will continue to raise millions of salmon and steelhead.

"We really don't think the state is working in the best interest of keeping Ringold open," said Cochlin, 60, who's fished at Ringold for more than 40 years. "We're afraid it's going to go belly up."

Federal hatchery money is shriveling, forcing elimination of Ringold's spring chinook program late last year. Also, staff positions in Ringold's salmon program have been reduced over the last several years. And some observers don't see the state as being very aggressive in trying to find new business for the under-used facility.

This winter, Ringold is back in the public eye because the state has a chance to restart spring chinook production here -- at least for one year.

"There are some very, very good possibilities here, not only to have a national monument, but a national monument that is rich with nice beautiful fish," said Bruce Beamer, Tri-City fishing guide.

But state officials are hesitant, saying they don't have any money to raise 1.1 million more salmon.

For Cochlin, who's volunteered religiously at Ringold for years, the prospect of continuing to lose pieces of the place to budget cuts is depressing, despite official assurances the salmon and steelhead program is safe.

"This is a very fluid type of business," said Manuel Farinas, Eastern Washington hatchery operations manager for the Fish and Wildlife Department. "There are a lot forces, a lot of changes going on."

Ringold reductions not alone

Ringold was established in the early 1960s to make up for fishery damage done by dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers.

In 1938, Congress recognized the progressive decline of Columbia fisheries and authorized hatchery money through the Mitchell Act.

Statewide, more than 90 rearing facilities produce more than 200 million fish, which become the vast majority of those caught by anglers.

But these days, hatcheries are under heavy scrutiny to ensure efforts to increase sport fisheries aren't hampering recovery of threatened and endangered wild salmon.

State officials say they are undergoing a "major realignment" that coincides with regional efforts to create a comprehensive hatchery policy.

They are also facing tighter budgets. In the fall of 1999, federal cuts of more than $1 million in Washington's slice of Mitchell Act money forced hatchery programs to be reduced around the state. One casualty was spring chinook at Ringold.

That leaves the facility to raise roughly 3.5 million fall chinook and 255,000 steelhead this year.

The steelhead are upper Columbia River fish called Wells stock and are considered a backup run for that endangered run. For instance, if there's a shortage of broodstock at Wells Hatchery, the Ringold fish could be used to aid recovery.

Farinas, the state manager, said he doesn't expect another big reduction in federal funds for 2001 and dismisses speculation the hatchery is dying. "Ringold Springs plays a very important role for the fishers in that area," he said. "And, therefore, I don't think that (closure) will occur."

As for staff reductions, Farinas said cuts aren't as deep as anglers think. And, he said, the Fish and Wildlife Department is spending taxpayer money more wisely by reducing middle managers.

"We will continue to operate that facility," he said. "My intent is to continue looking for different avenues to bring that facility to its full complement."

New springers in limbo

More than 120 miles north of Ringold, 1.5 million spring chinook -- offspring of the huge 2000 run -- are being reared in federal hatcheries at Leavenworth and Winthrop. By late March, they will be marked with a clipped fin and hauled elsewhere.

Money for fin clipping -- $184,000 -- was secured by Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., one of his last acts before leaving office.

That money essentially saved the eggs from being destroyed by federal agencies concerned the down-river stock of hatchery salmon would harm "wild" stocks in Northcentral Washington.

The fish were spared, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it doesn't have money or space to raise them until they are ready for their ocean run. The state says the same thing.

"If it is the desire of the federal government to bring that production from Leavenworth to Ringold Springs, then they need to come up with the money to continue that production," Farinas said. "We are still waiting."

So, the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission is pressing the Bonneville Power Administration for what is comparative pocket change to raise the spring chinook at Ringold, roughly $175,000.

"We don't want to see a lack of money do them in," said commission spokesman Chuck Hudson, noting Ringold fish production is important to tribal fishing seasons.

Big runs bring big questions

Even if Ringold does manage to snare the Leavenworth spring chinook this year, Farinas cautions that might just be a one-time bonus. "That doesn't mean this production will become a permanent program," he said.

But tribes are more optimistic about the potential of hatchery efforts -- and frustrated that state and federal agencies seem unprepared to handle a boom in salmon.

A huge chinook run is expected again this spring, creating the possibility of having plenty of broodstock for Ringold and other rivers that have been without springers for years. The early prediction is for 364,000 spring chinook at Bonneville Dam.

Under current policy, tens of thousands of "surplus" spring salmon will be killed in 2001 -- likely provoking public outrage as threatened fish destruction did earlier this year, tribal leaders predict.

Greg Pratschner, manager for the Leavenworth hatchery complex, said federal agencies are starting to plan for the 2001 run, hoping to avoid another high-profile problem.

"What we don't want to do is get caught in a situation in May or June when these fish are coming back without a decision" about what to do with them, he said. "We have always had to deal with scarcity, and now we are having to deal with abundance."

Hudson said the tribes won't let up.

"When we talk about planning for abundance, it means planning for and funding facilities like Ringold to be fully operational for growth," he said. "That will be our battle cry for 2001. 'Plan for abundance. Make a home for the fish.' "