Associated Press
July 3, 2009
MEDFORD, Ore. -- The Butte Falls Hatchery in southwestern Oregon will not be closing after all.
Located high in the Cascade Range community of Butte Falls outside Medford, the 94-year-old hatchery was slated for closure last April as part of a 30-percent cut in the budget of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
But officials have found enough money to keep the lights on with one employee and a few rainbow trout while it serves out the last year of a three-year quarantine due to a 2006 disease outbreak.
The state's third oldest hatchery had been plagued with a backlog of maintenance and production was severely cut due to the quarantine.
Regional fish and wildlife manager Russ Stauff says they will resume producing salmon, steelhead and trout next year.
Butte Falls fish hatchery finds money to stay open
July 3, 2009
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