Chattahoochee Forest National Fish Hatchery will remain open

[Julian_Byrd]

Got the form letter yesterday from Rep Graves.

"After meeting with and extensive talks with with the USFWS officials, I am pleased to inform you that the Chattahoochee Forest National Fish Hatchery will remain open. The USFWS has informed me that they have enough funding to operate the hatchery and that all employees will remain on staff."

This is awsome news but I can't find it posted anywhere on NGTO.

Am I just missing it?

News article from The News Observer in Blue Ridge.

http://www.thenewsobserver.com/articles/2011/06/03/news/news01.txt

[The Ole Man]

I believe you are the first bearer of the good news Julian. Thanks for the update.

[Buck Henry]

Wow, this is good news! Thanks for posting Julian; you get credit for the "scoop"!

[Deepwader]

Good news short term, but it looks like an annual battle. I don't think we can let up on the legislators. We still need to keep our voices heard. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

[Julian_Byrd]

No point in hesitating about staying on top of this situation. As you can read in the fourth paragraph, the funding is only for Fiscal Year 2012. The loss of funding also affects other NWS hatcheries which also help support Georgia’s stocking program.

Whether you dunk worms, chunk corn, flip spinners, fling flies, catch & release or catch & eat this issue will affect anyone who fishes for trout in North GA.

The hatchery lies in the 9th US Congressional District which falls under Congressman Tom Graves watch. The link to his website is here

http://www.gravesforcongress.org/

Call his office or send an email or direct letter to show your support for keeping the hatchery system in jeopardy funded. There is plenty of info on the web that talks about this issue so feel free to look it up.

Here is a list of the senators where the other hatcheries are in danger of having thier funding cut. Remember that the Tennessee hatcheries also help support the stocking program in Georgia.

KENTUCKY- Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery
Senator Mitch McConnell 202-224-2541
Senator Rand Paul 202-224-4343

TENNESSEE- Dale Hollow and Erwin National Fish hatcheries
Senator Lamar Alexander 202-224-4944
Senator Bob Corker 202-224-3344

GEORGIA- Chattahoochee Forest National Fish Hatchery
Senator Saxby Chambliss 202-224-3521
Senator Johnny Isakson 202-224-3643

ARKANSAS- Norfork and Greers Ferry National Fish Hatcheries
Senator John Boozman 202-224-4843
Senator Mark Pryor 202-224-2353

MISSOURI-Neosho National Fish Hatchery
Senator Roy Blunt 202-224-5721
Senator Claire McCaskill 202-224-6154

NORTH DAKOTA-Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery
Senator Kent Conrad 202-224-2043
Senator John Hoeven 202-224-2551

UTAH- Jones Hole National Fish Hatchery
Senator Orrin Hatch 202-224-5251
Senator Mike Lee 202-224-5444

**List courtesy of NGTO’s Deepwader