Willow's Trout Program to be Discontinued

[ihuntforfish]

Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery is very close to ending its trout-rearing program. How close? The loose word around Willow Beach says that they might run out of fish as soon as Thanksgiving, at which time they would only raise bonytail chub and razorback sucker. Devastated, and seeking some some solid information on the issue, I spoke with the hatchery's manager, Mark Olsen, to confirm the information. He left me the following voicemail:

"I have not gotten the official word from my regional office that we will stop stocking tout, however, we have not replenished our egg supplies, so our trout are dwindling quick in the hatchery...[we] have some budgetary issues we have to deal with [such as] sequestration in the government, and mandatory budget cuts [that are] hindering our spending budget. We are also having some infrastructure problems with rearing these trout, one of our pipelines broke off into the river and deteriorated, and our second pipeline clogged up [with algae] and [we] lost a bunch of fish this year. So we need some major rebuilds, you know, upwards of millions of dollars which is not in the budget. So, we have some problems going on here. No guarantee that the trout fishing is going away, we do have fish on hand to stock until abut February 1st at the moment."

After hearing this information, my mind was racing with questions to ask Mark. I returned his call to find he was out of the office. Hopefully, we'll speak tomorrow morning about a number of topics I've put together. My end-goal is to try and educate myself about the concrete facts behind the possible end of the trout-rearing program so that I can educate everyone who is interested in placing pressure in the right areas to make some changes. I will keep everyone posted on what is happening--aside from the questions I have ready for Mark, send me any questions you want the answer to and I'll make sure I have it addressed when we speak.
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[StarsnStripers]

WOW!!!!!!
Thanks for the info and plz keep us posted.
I also copied and pasted it on another site I hope you don't mind.
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[iamthesmf]

I saw your post, Alan is going to go off on this one.
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[StarsnStripers]

I will be rite with him. I've dedicated a lot of time and money on that river between licences stamps,stickers and everything else and would hate to see that hatchery see the same fate as our 14 million frog and sucker farm at mead...
Again thanks for the info...
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[iamthesmf]

We went down with Alan and Mike P to the public meetings when they were shutting down the Mead stockings.

They gave they an earfull but that did not stop them.

Doesn't sound like this one is open to discussion, bummer!
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[ihuntforfish]

Of course it's fine man, that's what I want! When I was at Willow I had heard the rumor from two different people who both gave me different stories, so I just want the facts and solid info. I think there's a good chance that something could be done, like I said, with pressure put in the right places. I think it would be incredible if this story was to reach some news sources and get coverage on this. Of course all of us fisherman are upset about the news, but I want to hit topics that are outside of the fishing community too to try and get a lot of people focused--like how trout are important for the ecology of the river for instance.

I think increasing the price for trout stamps and/or Colorado River stamps (maybe even creating a new stamp..?) would be great for creating some revenue...I really don't know. I say try to take this personally, and brainstorm ideas and solutions to present to the right people
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[ihuntforfish]

I just finished speaking with Mark Olson, asking questions about the fishing program and exchanging our overall concerns about losing the trout program. Here is a summary of some information I gathered from him, followed by the questions he eagerly answered for me:

Needed spending for infrastructure: The pipelines that Olson mentioned are two large pipes that run westward into the body of the river, drawing up water to feed the pools where trout are reared--one pipe lays near the floor of the river, the other rests higher in the water column, enough to be exposed with low enough water levels. The first pipe (nearest the bottom) sustained wear-and-tear damage through the years without proper maintenance, and has since sustained debilitating damage--this pipe was shut off in the past year. The second pipe, which is higher in the river's water column, needs to be repositioned so that it can still draw water even in low water conditions--otherwise, there will be no water flow into the pools. Estimated repairs for the project was projected at 2.5 million dollars in 2011.

Major Reason for Programs Possible Elimination: Olson was emphatic in citing automatic spending cuts (federal sequestration) as the sole reason for the program seeing an end.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

1. Is the situation looking more like a temporary suspension of the trout program, or a closure without an end in sight?
--I really can't say. If you're familiar with sequestration (automatic spending cuts), you'll know that the spending cuts that were such a big issue in 2011 went into effect January 2nd 2013 and have since been effecting the hatchery (I'll have updates for this question soon). I do know that we don't have any more eggs left and are working with the remainder of our stock--I spoke with [my superior] and she said that there isn't a definite decision to close the program yet.

2. Will the Willow Beach National Hatchery go the way of the Lake Mead Hatchery?
-- Lake Mead hatchery was a different beast than what we're seeing here at the Willow Beach Hatchery. What happened at Lake Mead was due to more ecological factors than economic or budgetary ones, which is what is happening with us.

3. If the program is ended, will razorback sucker and bonytail still be reared?
--Yes, these species are part of a 50 year program called the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program (http://www.lcrmscp.gov/index.html). The trout rearing program is funded separately by the Fish and Wildlife Department.

4. To be clear, what is the most important reason/reasons that trout are stocked?
--The trout are stocked strictly for game, there is no immediate ecological advantage to stocking the trout...this is one reason why the program is on the chopping block, because it is seen by the regional director of Fish and Wildlife as one of the non-essential items in the budget that can be cut. Willow Beach will really suffer without a trout program since a large number of visitors come for trout and fishing. I'm sure we'll still have people coming to boat and kayak, but a good portion of visitors just won't be here, or spending money for trout and Colorado River stamps.

5. You say the final "word" isn't in yet about the program closure--what or who makes a final decision? Where would pressure be best applied by concerned fishermen and supporters of Willow Beach?
--Stewart Jacks is the Assistant Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife services. He oversees the budget for region 2 (this includes several states, Willow Beach falls into Region 2), and is a major decider of what is essential or non-essential to the budget--he would decide on what will be cut. Remember, all matters concerning the budget comes from Washington first, and then to the Regional Director to be itemized. He would be most helpful in discussing options and solutions.

Ending our conversation, Olson gave me the e-mail address to contact Stewart Jacks (Who is an avid fisherman by the way, the first picture I found is of him holding a mighty hog of a bass!), who he said would be very instrumental in helping build a case for the Willow Beach trout program. He asked that I contact him and ask the same questions, as well as send a copy of our conversation back to him (Mark Olson).

At the moment, I'm trying to build a good story that a local news or radio station will want to pick up. One sticking point that I think would resonate with locals is the fact that the hatchery has been stocking trout for more than 40 years (Since 1959!), and has been a long-lasting location for locals to retreat to. If you have any contacts, information, or stories that you think would be helpful, e-mail me so I can gather this stuff together rulonhardy@aol.com. The more people that are involved and taking this personally, the more efficient we can be in making sure we have a good stake in making lasting decisions about the quality of our local waters. We aren't victims of "the way things are", we're all deciders of how things will happen to us as fisherman and outdoorsman as a whole. Spread the news about this, and think of solutions or plans of action to take so we can keep the trout program in place. How many other hatchery programs have been halted? If they think the Willow Beach trout program is non-essential to the budget, imagine what else will be non-essential in the future.
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[MOJAVE_RED]

Buying a trout stamp is a little like buying my unicorn hunting stamp , i have never even seen a trout in Mead , or Mojave . this is a bummer deal .
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[ihuntforfish]

Not even in the upper portion of Mohave, like from 50 up to 64? I saw a massive trout that was pushing 3 pounds according to my trusty eyeball scale right in front of White Rock Canyon in early summer, just hovering in the shadow of my boat--I also launched a scout group at the base of the hoover dam who caught their only trout of their canoe trip between goldstrike canyon and the sauna cave.

Either way, the trout stamp is definitely just for those who make trips to local to catch stocked trout, if you aren't interested in sticking around those high-number areas, it really isn't worth the money--BUT! You have to realize that the money used for trout stamps, Colorado River stamps, AIS stickers, bumped up entrance fees, etc., aren't misused or filling the pockets of some investors. They really do keep all of our waters and surrounding land worth visiting.

And that trout program single-handedly makes Willow Beach the striper hot-spot that it is. Without it, that place will be just like any other bend in the Lower Colorado within a few months.
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[StarsnStripers]

There are sum nice trout in the river. I was in a pretty deep cove south of monkey hole a few years back and saw a real big bow probly 4-5lbs but the striper definitely keep thier numbers way down. If the striper do run out of easily caught food they may abandon that part of the river and it may become a way better trout fishery some day.
But the stockers also bring a lot of money there and a lot of fuel is burned and so on and so on. And I really like huntin those pig stripers!!!!!!!!
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