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Sequim, WA: Tribe fears recovery will be hampered under closure plan March 27, 2003 SEQUIM, WA(AP) -- The Hurd Creek Hatchery, one of three state hatcheries
targeted for closure because of budget woes, is a vital part of salmon
recovery on the Olympic Peninsula, an Indian tribe's fisheries manager
says. Closure would severely hamper the Jamestown S'Klallam tribe's efforts to continue recovery work, he said. The 20-year-old Hurd Creek hatchery is located between Sequim and Port Townsend along a tributary of the Dungeness River. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife has targeted two other hatcheries as well: the Naselle hatchery near Grays Harbor and the Coulter Creek hatchery near Gig Harbor. The three hatcheries would close at the end of June under Gov. Gary Locke's budget plan. State budget advisers and wildlife authorities said they don't want the programs to end. But with the state facing a $2.6 billion shortfall, they're forced to make sacrifices, they said. "We would not be closing these facilities if we were not under a mandate to cut hatchery facilities," said Lew Atkins, assistant director of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife's Fish Program. After Locke asked the agency to cut $1.3 million from its $14.6 million two-year general fund allotment for state hatchery programs, department officials began a review of the 91 hatchery facilities, Atkins said. But most are protected from reductions under state and federal legal obligations and fishery management plans, leaving only about a dozen facilities open to cuts, Atkins said. Since the state took over the Hurd Creek hatchery in the early 1980s, its primary goal has been restoring dwindling Dungeness River chinook runs. Chinook returns have showed slight increases in the Dungeness system in recent years, said Atkins and Chitwood. Still, the program had been set to end in June 2004, which was another reason for the state's decision to target Hurd Creek for closure, said Jim Cahill, a senior budget assistant for the state. Chitwood and the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission see flaws in the state's economic argument for closing Hurd Creek, which has two-year operating costs of only about $200,000. Chitwood suspects that filling the void left after Hurd Creek's closure eventually will force authorities to increase program costs at nearby hatchery facilities in the Dungeness and Lower Elwha River systems. That's because Hurd Creek offers ideal water for a hatchery, he said. Its water is cleaner with little fluctuation in temperature, providing ideal conditions for egg incubation and raising juveniles for several river and streams in the area. Fish and Wildlife's Atkins said the intended budget cut "doesn't preclude continued operation of the hatchery under some kind of alternative funding" -- if the state or tribes find it. Hurd Creek faces a threat on another front. Last week, two conservation groups filed suit to stop the Department of Fish and Wildlife from releasing hatchery fish into Puget Sound, arguing that such strains harm endangered native salmon, and thus are illegal under the federal Endangered Species Act. The groups seek an injunction to halt such releases from 30 state hatchery programs -- including Hurd Creek. Related Story from Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Tribe fears extinction of salmon - Plan to cut hatchery threatens peninsula runs, manager says By
LEWIS KAMB 3/25/03 Clallam County, WA - Tribal authorities fear threatened salmon on the Olympic Peninsula would "spiral toward extinction" under Gov. Gary Locke's plan to close a 2-decade-old state salmon hatchery. The Hurd Creek Hatchery -- one of three state hatcheries targeted for closure under Locke's proposed budget -- is a vital component of salmon recovery in upper peninsula river systems, said Scott Chitwood, fisheries manager for the Jamestown S'Klallam tribe. Without it, he said, "our ability to continue recovery work is severely hampered." "We would not be closing these facilities if we were not under a mandate to cut hatchery facilities," said Lew Atkins, assistant director of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife's Fish Program. With Locke's request that the agency trim $1.3 million from its $14.6 million biannual general fund allotment for state hatchery programs, department officials undertook an extensive review of its 91 hatchery facilities, Atkins said. But most Washington hatchery programs are protected from reductions under state and federal legal obligations and fishery management plans, leaving only about a dozen facilities unprotected, Atkins said. Officials looked hard at each using a host of criteria -- from facility condition to program effectiveness -- to select which programs to cut, Atkins said. Along with the Hurd Creek facility -- between Sequim and Port Townsend along a tributary of the Dungeness River -- the department targeted the Naselle hatchery near Grays Harbor and the Coulter Creek hatchery near Gig Harbor. The three hatcheries would close at the end of June under Locke's budget plan. Neither the state House or Senate has proposed budget plans yet. Since the state took over the Hurd Creek hatchery in the early 1980s, its primary goal has been restoring dwindling Dungeness River chinook runs. In the mid-1990s, the hatchery introduced the "captive brood" technique -- a program that hatches and rears wild salmon and confines them in a hatchery environment for their entire lives -- under a short-term pilot project. Although yields have been slow, Atkins and Chitwood said chinook returns have showed slight increases in the Dungeness system in recent years. Still, the Hatchery Scientific Review Group, an independent panel of scientists established by Congress to evaluate Western Washington's hatchery programs, recently recommended that Hurd Creek's captive brood program be replaced by alternative methods. All along, the program was set to end in June 2004 -- another factor that played into the state's decision to target Hurd Creek for closure, said Jim Cahill, a senior budget assistant for the state. But mostly, Cahill said, "We had to find the money somewhere." Chitwood, along with the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, finds the state's "economic argument" in determining which hatcheries to close is more fallacy than shrewd decision making -- especially for Hurd Creek. The hatchery's two-year operating costs run only about $200,000, he said. Chitwood suspects that filling the void left with Hurd Creek's closure eventually will force authorities to increase program costs at nearby hatchery facilities in the Dungeness and Lower Elwha River systems. Ultimately, "that's not a good exchange," Chitwood said. That's because Hurd Creek offers "an ideal hatchery water source" for the Dungeness system, he said. Its water is cleaner with little fluctuation in temperature -- ideal conditions for egg incubation and early rearing facilities used for several river and streams in the area. "This is why Hurd Creek is such an important component for salmon recovery programs on the peninsula," Chitwood said. "None of the other facilities has that kind of water quality." Fish and Wildlife's Atkins said that despite the proposed closure, salmon egg incubation programs will continue at Hurd Creek. He added that the intended budget cut "doesn't preclude continued operation of the hatchery under some kind of alternative funding" -- should the state or tribes find it. It's unlikely to come from a small, strapped tribe like the Jamestown S'Klallam, Chitwood said. "And we've not yet been invited to any discussions on the future of Hurd Creek -- if there is a future," he added. Even if the hatchery somehow survives the governor's cuts, another threat lingers for Hurd Creek. Last week, two conservationist groups filed suit to halt the Department of Fish and Wildlife from releasing hatchery fish into Puget Sound, contending that such strains harm endangered native salmon, and thus are illegal under the federal Endangered Species Act. The groups seek an injunction to halt such releases from 30 state hatchery programs -- including Hurd Creek. P-I reporter Lewis Kamb can be reached at 206-448-8336 or lewiskamb@seattlepi.com |