Fish and Wildlife Service Wants to Close Booth Hatchery in Spearfish

Holy cow... er, trout! Contrary to my usual experiences in Spearfish, I stop in the Queen City of the Black Hills, and the first thing I hear about is a really stupid idea. It comes not from Spearfishers, but from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which thinks it would be a good idea to close the D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery:

For a number of years, the National Fish Hatchery System, a branch of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has struggled with declining funding and annual increases in the costs. In addition to rising operating costs, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Directorate in Washington, D.C., has emphasized and prioritized other programs over those of the National Fisheries Program.  As a result, the agency has made the decision to permanently shut down multiple fish hatcheries nationwide, including the D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery ["D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery to Close," Black Hills Pioneer, 2013.08.20].

Closing the D.C. Booth Hatchery provides a spectacular example of budget-cutting gone nuts. The hatchery is a Spearfish gem. It draws visitors from all over the place. Every time I've walked down there, I've found locals and travelers enjoying the well-kept grounds, feeding the fish, watching the ducks, and climbing the canyon trails. The hatchery provides an excellent educational experience for visitors about fish, wildlife, and the Black Hills, thus supporting the mission of USFWS.

The hatchery also provides a great boost to the local and state economy. Consider just their summer workforce. The hatchery recruits RVers from all over the country to come serve as interpretive guides and do other work on the grounds. These folks draw no paycheck. In return for their service, the city of Spearfish provides them free camping spots in the beautiful adjacent city campground, listening to the shushing waters of Spearfish Creek. These RVers live in Spearfish all summer, spending their disposable retirement income on groceries and entertainment. Everybody wins!

The D.C. Booth Society is riled up, and so should you be! Here's the Booth Society's run-down of all the benefits the hatchery provides to the community:

The Booth Society is against wasteful spending and supports a fiscally sound government. However, the national fisheries program and a facility like D.C. Booth are excellent examples of good government spending. They provide an economic impact that the public should be proud of. For example a 2011 economic impact study indicates that:

• Each taxpayer dollar budgeted for the National Fisheries Program generates $28 in economic returns ($28 : $1). The revenue generated can be seen at sporting goods stores, marinas, boat dealerships, guides and outfitter services, bait shops, gas stations, restaurants, and hotels.

• 68,000 American jobs are attributable to the economic contribution of the National Fisheries Program.

• The National Fisheries Program contributes $3.6 billion in annual contributions to the U.S. economy. That equates to $70 million a week or $10 million a day. In fact, a company with $3.6 billion in annual profits would rank No. 41 on the Fortune 500 List of America’s Most Profitable Corporations – behind Verizon but in front of Kraft Foods. 

• $903 million in industrial output results from angling for fish originating in National Fish Hatcheries. 

On the local level, a 2007 economic impact study on D.C. Booth Historic NFH conducted by Black Hills State University revealed:

• The operations at D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery results in $2.1 million dollars in annual business revenues.

• An estimated $1 million is spent by nonresident visitors in Spearfish each year who attributed their visit ONLY to the existence of the hatchery.

• $141,393 in local and state tax and fee revenues are collected indirectly from the visitation at D.C. Booth.

• Nearly 30 jobs are created locally as a result of the operations at D.C. Booth.

• Over 14,000 volunteer hours are donated annually to D.C. Booth. This is equivalent to seven full-time employees [D.C. Booth Society, "Save Our Hatchery from Closure," 2013.08.20].

Rep. Noem, Senator Thune, Senator Johnson, get on the horn to the Fish and Wildlife Service, and tell them these budget cuts will cost Spearfish and South Dakota far more than they will save.

Quack If You Like Prairie Potholes: USFWS Wants to Preserve 1.94M Acres

If you think the 48,000 acres proposed for the Tony Dean Cheyenne River National Grassland Wilderness is a big deal, check this out: Mr. Kurtz reads about an ambitious conservation project proposed by our friends at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. USFWS wants to create a Dakota Grassland Conservation Area that would preserve 240,000 acres of wetlands and 1.7 million acres of grassland in the Prairie Pothole region.

That isn't Florida! It's the Dakota Grassland Conservation Area
proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It's bigger than Florida.

Don't worry: USFWS isn't kicking us all out of East River. They plan to pay landowners not to tear up native prairie. USFWS estimates that over half of this untilled ground will be developed for farming or housing or some other use over the next 34 years. Such development would seriously degrade what USFWS calls "the backbone of North America’s 'duck factory' and critical habitat for many wetland- and grassland-dependent migratory birds."

To protect this habitat, Fish & Wildlife would buy conservation easements. Landowners keep their property rights and control over public access. Farmers can still farm the wetlands during naturally dry years and graze and hay the grasslands. The land stays on the tax rolls, so local governments don't lose out on revenue. On the budget side, this federal spending appears deficit-neutral: the money comes primarily "from oil and gas leases on the outer continental shelf, excess motorboat fuel tax revenues, and sale of surplus Federal property."

USFWS is hosting three public meetings next week across the Prairie Pothole Region to talk about the plan and gets folks' input:

• December 14, 2010: Minot, ND, 7 p.m.–9 p.m. Sleep Inn–Inn and Suites, 2400 10th Street SW
• December 15, 2010: Jamestown, ND, 7 p.m.–9 p.m. Gladstone Inn and Suites, 111 2nd Street NE
• December 16, 2010: Huron, SD, 7 p.m.–9 p.m. Crossroads Hotel, 100 4th Street SW

This grassland proposal looks like a good deal for all parties concerned, from budget hawks to ducks and geese. But Uncle Sam welcomes your two-cents' worth. If you can't make the meetings, you can submit comments by e-mail to planning team leader Nick Kaczor.