Fish Hatcheries
2011 April 13
Dear North Dakota fishermen and women, We have a severe threat to our North Dakota fisheries developing RIGHT NOW. The Garrison and Valley City Fish Hatcheries which are funded and run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will either have their funding severely cut or will be closed according to the proposed 2012 Federal Fish and Wildlife budget. These fish hatcheries raise more than 15 million fish, including 12 million walleyes for North Dakota waters. The cost of raising these fish is less than 1% of the economic benefit derived from fishing to North Dakota communities and that doesn’t begin to address the pride and enjoyment that having such superior outdoor recreational opportunites in our state brings to all of us. We need to let our Congressmen and the Fish and Wildlife know how we feel about this. The budget cuts($6.2 million for all Federal Fish Hatcheries) are small on a national scale, less than 4 tenths of a percent of the Fish and Wildlife Budget. The Fish and Wildlife is actually requesting an overall increase of $64 million. The Hatcheries are supremely efficient and cost effective(amazing for a Federal Program). Producing the same fish from a private source would cost many times what they do now. The Hatcheries are a model of how various state and federal agencies can work together to achieve a common goal to the benefit of all. Attached is list of the various Fish and Wildlife persons involved in making this critical decision with their mailing addresses and telephone numbers. Also the addresses, emails and telephone numbers of your Congressmen. Take the time to send each one a personal note urging them to reconsider this decision. These hatcheries are critical to keeping North Dakota’s fisheries the superior recreational resource they are today. Clark Williams, North Dakota Sportfishing Congress. Dan Ashe, Director Nominee U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mail Stop: 3238 MIB 1849 C St., NW Washington, DC 20240 202-208-4545 Rowan Gould, Acting Director U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1849 C ST., NW Washington, DC 20240 Bryan Arroyo, Assistant Director for Fisheries and Habitat Conservation U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mail Stop: 3331 MIB 1849 C. Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20240 202-208-6394 / 202-208-5618 FAX Stuart Leon, Chief of the National Fish Hatchery System Division of Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Conservation (DFARC) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mail Stop: 770 4401 N. Fairfax Dr. Arlington, VA 22203 703-358-2189 / 703-358-2487 FAX Steve Guertin, Regional Director U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service P.O. Box 25486 Lakewood, CO 80228-1807 303-236-7920 / 303-236-8295 FAX Senator Kent Conrad 530 Hart Senate Office Building United States Senate Washington, DC 20510-3403 Phone: (202) 224-2043 Fax: (202) 224-7776 https://conrad.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm Senator John Hoeven G11 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg. Washington DC, 20510 Phone: 202-224-2551 Fax: 202-224-7999 http://hoeven.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact?p=email-the-senator Congressman Rick Berg 323 Cannon HOB Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-2611 https://berg.house.gov/contact-me/email-me
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