McCain pushes to save Willow Beach hatchery

Almost a year has passed since the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) served notice that it was ending its trout-rearing program at the Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery, a facility designed and built specifically for that purpose. Since that time, officials from Mohave County, Ariz., the Arizona Game and Fish Department, concerned sportsmen and members of Congress have encouraged the FWS to take the necessary steps so trout-rearing operations can resume.

Those operations were suspended following a failure of the water intake system that draws cold water from the Colorado River into the raceways where the trout were raised. As a result, thousands of trout had to be released into the river early and thousands more died in the raceways.

During a recent tour of the Willow Beach Hatchery, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was briefed on a variety of engineering plans that could be implemented for the purpose of restoring the water intake system and trout-rearing activities at the facility. Some of those options, according to a news release from McCain’s office, carry an estimated price tag upwards of $9 million. McCain urged those involved to “develop a single, reasonable solution that would move repairs forward.”

Evidently that little bit of encouragement worked.

In a letter to FWS Director Dan Ashe dated Sept. 12, McCain wrote, “I am pleased to learn that representatives from Mohave County, the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) have identified a plan and cost estimate for restoring trout-stocking operations at Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery (NFH). I commend you and your personnel for your leadership in this collaboration.”

According to the senator’s letter, the proposed solution calls for the construction of a floating pump-platform assembly that would be anchored near the hatchery. The intake on such a platform would adjust with fluctuations in river water levels, and with an estimated cost of $776,448 would be much less expensive than repairing existing intake infrastructure.

“I remain committed to restoring trout rearing at Willow Beach NFH,” wrote McCain. “To this end, I respectfully request that you identify resources and programs within the Service that would be useful in advancing the proposed pump-platform solution.”

WESTERN REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

More than 460 of the nation’s top shotgunners are in town this week for the National Sporting Clays Association Western Regional Championship, the largest sporting clay tournament in the West. Though the Western Region is made up of all states west of the Rocky Mountains, including Alaska and Hawaii, participants come from across the country. Two are from Canada and one registered shooter is from Barbados.

The event is open to the public and gets underway today at the Clark County Shooting Complex and runs through Sunday. Hosting the event is the Gauge Shooting Academy, a local business that specializes in teaching the finer points of shotgun shooting.

Due to the size of the event, the folks at Gauge Shooting Academy added an additional 18 shooting stations to the 30 stations already available at the Shooting Complex. The additional stations required another 130 clay target machines. Shooting time is 8 a.m. and goes on throughout the day.

Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His “In the Outdoors” column, published Thursday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions he states in his column are his own. He can be reached at intheoutdoorslv@gmail.com.