Hatchery Shutdown Considered Mullan’S Fate Mulled By Fish And Game

As it casts about for ways to save money, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game is considering closing the hatchery at Mullan.

The possibility worries Shoshone County anglers and tourism promoters. Sandpoint-area sportsmen are equally concerned about the fate of the hatchery there.

Nothing has been decided yet, a fisheries official said Monday.

“At this point we have not made any kind of recommendation,” said state hatchery manager Tom Frew. But, citing a backlog of $11.7 million in hatchery repairs, he added: “We’re looking at every single hatchery program we’ve got to see what’s worth keeping.”

Frew just drafted a letter to Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, who requested information about the status of the Mullan hatchery. Kempthorne himself got a June 24 letter from prominent Wallace businessman Harry Magnuson, urging that the state not close the small hatchery.

Magnuson noted that the hatchery is important to the growing tourism industry. He also pointed out that county commissioners are willing to increase the county’s contribution to the hatchery.

The county spends $4,000 to $5,000 annually on maintenance. The building is owned by the Shoshone County Sportsmen’s Association.

The state spends $24,000 a year to operate the hatchery, Frew said. It holds rainbow trout that are reared elsewhere. The hatchery’s one employee uses those fish to stock area waterways.

The department’s recommendations regarding hatchery operations will be made to the Fish and Game Commission at its August meeting in Sandpoint. A public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 11 at the Leo Hadley Rifle Range.

In his letter to the governor, Magnuson expressed concern that the department prefers to keep its Sandpoint hatchery open “largely because one of the members of the Fish and Game Commission is from the Sandpoint area.”

He was referring to commissioner Nancy Hadley, who said she has only asked the department to gather enough facts so the commission can make a sound decision. Someone suggested the property would be worth $1.5 million, Hadley said, while she doubted it is worth that much.

“Even if I truly wanted to keep it open, the other commissioners looking at all the facts would say `yes’ or `no,”’ she said.

Also in question is the future of the Clark Fork hatchery, because of disease problems there, Hadley said. The other North Idaho hatchery at Cabinet Gorge gets Bonneville Power Administration funding and “is in a whole other category,” Hadley said.