http://www.valleyrecord.com/site/news.cf...41396&rfi=8

Don't know how many folks have seen this story yet on the Tokul...but contacts at WDFW are:
Annette Hoffmann phone: 425-775-1311 ext. 120 (email: HOFFMAH@dfw.wa.gov) or
Aaron Bosworth phone: 425-775-1311 ext 101 (email: boswoadb@dfw.wa.gov)
There's a followup story at the bottom that came out today

Murky future for Tokul hatchery
For a century, the Tokul Creek Fish Hatchery has released its stocks into the waters of the Snoqualmie.
Now, the hatchery's presence in Fall City looks murky, as the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife considers closing the historic facility.
Because the hatchery releases about 185,000 steelhead trout into the Snoqualmie River every year, a closure would not only change the lives of the three staff members who live and work at the operation, but could also impact the local economy as fewer sport fishers would be drawn to the area, said hatchery manager Darin Combs.

Reasons for closure
The state is looking at closing the facility for financial and environmental concerns, said Doug Hatfield, who oversees hatchery operations from Issaquah to Darrington.
"There's a substantial shortfall of funds in the Wildlife budget, which fully funds Tokul Creek," Hatfield said, adding that some hatcheries in southwest Washington might also shut down.
"Conservation considerations" also come into play, with Puget Sound steelheads recently being listed as a "threatened" species, Hatfield said. "Part of the effort of the agency is to come up with plans to ensure the health of stocks going forward, and one step is to establish wildlife fish management zones."
The Snoqualmie River, he said, has been designated as a sanctuary zone for wild steelhead, which some researchers believe are harmed when they're forced to compete with hatchery fish.
If the Tokul Creek site were to close, steelhead production would shift to other hatcheries, Hatfield said.
Combs isn't convinced that the steelheads his hatchery releases hurt the wild fish.
"From what I understand, the latest science says there's not much of an effecton the wild fish of Snoqualmie from our stock of fish," Combs said. The abundance of hatchery steelheads around Tokul Creek has made it a popular fishing spot, luring crowds into the Valley.
If the hatchery were to close, the Tokul Creek area could be off-limits to sports fishing after the last crop of hatchery fish return to spawn, Combs said. That means that within a couple of years, the area could lose the steady winter stream of visiting fishers who patronize local merchants.
"It's a lot of people who are buying gas here, buying food. It provides some revenue to the small businesses in the Valley," Combs said.
Hatchery staff are struggling with the uncertainty of what will happen if their workplace and home closes.
Combs, his family, and two other staff members live on the grounds, so employees can respond to any emergencies 24 hours a day.
"I love the area. It's a nice setting, quiet. It's kind of like living on a park," Combs said of the five-acre property, located on Fall City-Snoqualmie Road.
Hatfield said Combs would likely remain as caretaker, and continue supervising another hatchery in Issaquah. Hatchery technician Duane Richer would probably be relocated to another facility. The staff position held by Debi Sanchez, who has been with the hatchery for 20 years, would be eliminated, Hatfield said.
"We're very proud of the place, and we work hard at making it look nice, and also raising quality fish. That makes it especially tough," said Combs, who is waiting with bated breath until a final decision comes down from Olympia.
"The earliest I would anticipate any concrete move would be some time in September," Hatfield said.
If that move happens, Hatfield expects a backlash.
"When word gets out that a hatchery is proposed for cuts or closure, there's usually reaction," he said.


http://www.valleyrecord.com/site/news.cf...41396&rfi=8

Closing hatchery hurts Valley jobs
One thing is for certain, in good times and in bad, there is always someone who just wants to fish.
Fishermen can be found along the banks of the Snoqualmie River below the Falls in the worst of weather. Small campfires and steaming coffee can be found near many of the fishermen as they hunt for that elusive steelhead. My own father would spend hours on the banks of the Snoqualmie along State Route 202, then spend hours talking to his fishing buddies about how much better he would do next time he went out. It's an addiction for many folks, a good one at that, and it's all in jeopardy.
Last week we published a story about the Tokul Creek Fish Hatchery possibly closing due to budget cuts and concerns about wild steelhead competing with hatchery fish. What amazes me is how short-sighted a state agency, focused on wildlife, can be.
I'm sure that budgets are tight; heck, we are all faced with a shrinking dollar. But the typical answer from government agencies is cutting the programs that have the biggest impact. It's also typical for government agencies to be short-sighted in finding solutions. Has the state contacted any other private agencies to see if they may help in the maintenance and upkeep of the Tokul Creek hatchery? Have they contacted the Snoqualmie Tribe to see if they may be interested in taking over hatchery operations? Has the state done any impact study on what the decline of fishing in the Snoqualmie River would mean to the local economy? The answer is likely "no," and whomever the person is that thinks that hatchery fish are endangering wild fish, the average person would say a fish is a fish. They catch the same, taste the same and contribute to the local economy the same.
Write your state legislator and ask them to support keeping the Tokul Creek Fish Hatchery open. I would also urge the Department of Fish and Wildlife to contact the Snoqualmie Tribe to see if there is an interest in them helping keep it open. It would really be a shame if we lost one more part of our way of life, sitting in freezing weather, near a small campfire and a pot of coffee, doing our best to catch the elusive steelhead.

No $$$$$$'s........seems that the WDFW Dept. has this probem quite often. Maybe its time to take a look at some of the 1600+ employees that "suck up" most of the Departments dollars. Just too often the "no dollars" to get land purchases for sport poeples good, can't repair boat launches, can't do this, can't do that.......but the "people pushing "paper fish" keep thier jobs.

Just no easy answer...and ohhhh so often its the "sport fishers" that bear much of the burden.

My observations on many hatcheries, is that they are not running at 100% capacity, many want to have only steelhead or salmon but not both. I understand the State would like to "manage for wild stock" but fact of the matter....many of the coastal river would be down to nothing as netting is allowed to continue at an increasing rate.

Doesn't make sense to me to close the Tokul Creek hatchery, wtih the amount of people that fish that drainage but then many of the cuts, increases, changes...don't make sense to me........guess it "those office" personnel trying to justify thier jobs.

Top notch rocket surgeons at WDFW. I'd assume the Snoqualmie would get plants fom Reiter but aren't they usually short of spawners lately also.

This sucks now that the cutbacks and shutdowns have started which hatchery is next?

The Legislators just approved a $420 Million supplemental spending bill . Not a stop gap but an additional new spending bill. With a 1.2 BILLION dollar in forcast deficit coupled with a 33 % state increase in spending and only a 13% increase in revenues. You can see what has to go . Trim agencies budgets and charge more for services. They can justify cutting hatcheries in the name of saving the wild fish. Someday we will no longer have hatchery fish and our wild fish will also be down to a very few remants. There is plenty of food in the ocean it should be utilized.

IDIOTS

Don't know why the Snoqualmie Tribe would have any interest in it.....they can't fish the river anyway. I can't see them raising fish for the white man. They'll be too busy with their new casino anyway.......

Sounds like the usual "We're going to break your favorite toy" game that gets played out when WDFW wants you to squirm and make a bunch of complaints to Oly. Then, emporer Koenings and his politicos get to play show and tell to a legislature about how important it is not to make any cuts. Go ahead and get excited...that's exactly what they want so they can use you for their own ends. Sounds like BS, smells like BS, must be it, too!

let's manage our fisheries based on what the "average" person knows about hatchery/wild fish interactions. should be a success, right?

Man, you sure roll over easy.

Yet, no one ever says, GEE, I thought democrats were on our side. I wonder if CG could pick out the snoqualmie on a map. In the 90's Lowry and others tried to shut down Reiter. One summer day, I drove up there and the ENTIRE road into the hatchery had been freshly paved with asphalt. The next year they started puting up nets and then ground security for critters.

You do have to write. Even if you dont fish it. The nate come up in feb march and april and most of the river is closed down or restricted in stages, just like the skykomish. They usually have an emergency closure on the C and R of the nates.

If the cowlitz is any example of predation, the MAY release of millions of salmon and or steelhead smolts are going to play hell with the eggs and fry emerging from the gravel. I have to wonder if the experts ever considered that.

I can see a time and place, when a tributary is closed off for specific nuturing of native fish, but without other rivers with healthy runs to take up the slack, license sales will go down and the other guys will have to drive much further to go fishing. Considering the population density of King County, the snoqualmie and the skykomish should have the Largest plants in the state, with the exception of the columbia and skagit.

Granite falls trib,- lousy run
Green lousy
Puyallup non existant
cedar river non existant thank to the state and seals.
issaquah creek same thing.

To take your thought one step farther topwater---- the average person doesn't fish and would rather see the hatchery money spent on things they are interested in.

OUCH

BUT A POINT WELL MADE

Sucks.Never really liked that fishery any way's.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

WDF&W is thinking of shutting down hatcheries when they should be looking at way to improve them and make them better. Sounds like politics is over-ruling common sense again......

Steve

Washington's budget money for sportsmen really is messed up. They don't even have money to keep the bathrooms clean at our boat launches. Have you ever been in one of Oregon's many boat launch bathrooms? They're SPOTLESS. Un-vactored wet-wells, [censored] on the toilet seats and piss on the walls is just one more sign of the times here in Washington.

totally what Lead Bouncer said...the two runs don't really mingle and are managed differently with closures etc. Have caught tons of hatchery in Snoq. with no nates mixed in (different story in Reiter area).
This system should be pumped to the max with hatchery fish to benefit metro area fishermen, plus lots of bank and boat areas to fish (actually underutilized). If we are trying to go green need to increase fishing opps locally to help cut down on the driving. We definitely should all write in on this one. An uproar will show them there are people that care...and they can work with that.

i guess i needed to make my sarcasm more obvious. in no way was i suggesting that the "average" person make this decision. you're correct that most non-fishing people would rather see the money for hatcheries used elsewhere... just imagine their reaction if they knew the negative impacts on ESA listed fish hatcheries have. hatchery proponents are lucky the "average" person knows nothing about hatchery/wild interactions.

luckily, wdfw targets popular hatcheries... gets the fishing public worked up enough to write letters and make phone calls, and then they continue managing wild fish to extinction.

This comment is right on the mark....exactly what WDFW has always done when their budget is in trouble like now....they threaten popular things like this and hope for an uproar from sports folks that will result in them getting more money..too bad they waste so much on staff and union benefits.