Salazar has annonced $275,000,000 (275-million) of the stimulus money for National Wildlife Refuges and fish hatcheries.
It’s good news that $1.7 million went to Idaho. Over a million of it went to a fish hatchery built to replace spawning beds destroyed by the Dvorshak Reservoir on the North Fork of the Clearwater.
Montana got $3-million. Colorado, Salazar’s home state got 9.4 million. Utah only got $231,000. I could not find more info in a quick search.
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Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
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Ah, hatcheries! Will we (taxpayers) be paving more fish runs, buying more hatchery fish fungicides or killing/harassing more opportunistic herons, water ouzels and kingfishers sure seems like rancher Ken Salazar’s kind of stimulus … The kind of thing he could get off on. Will the stimulus also be funding cows to keep the hatchery grass mowed, too? Just think of the benefits of some good algae bloom nutrients there …
WHAT about replanting native vegetation in all the weedy parts of Wildlife Refuges in Idaho? Think how much more of a diversity of people that might employ. Seed collectors Nursery growers, planting crews. Follow-up maintenance. The Hatchery deal sounds like a proposal to make some building/paving – whatever – Contractor rich.
he said fish hatcheries AND wildlife refuges… it isn’t clear how the money will be split.
There is significant money available for restoration in some drainages in Idaho, thanks to the $900+ million settlement between the tribes and the feds last year over the lower Snake dams. In combination with what has been available for the last few years (ESA monies I think, but I may be wrong on this) the total is somewhere around $80 million.
The lame part is that the state hasn’t really motivated to match this opportunity, and the nonprofit sector is pretty small. A few organizations have been paying attention, but our lack of local watershed/land trust groups hurts.
Peter Bray:
From the Idaho Statesman Today – showing the disparity in Idaho:
“The Kooskia National Fish Hatchery in northern Idaho is slated to received $1.1 million.
In eastern Idaho, the Camas National Wildlife Refuge will receive $109,000 for projects”.
KT,
As far as overall benefit, the Hatchery upgrades will provide more overal benefit than removing non native weeds. Those fish will be used from Astoria to Idaho, better use of the money would be to remove the snake river dams, but that will most likely never happen in my lifetime. The diversity of people employed by the fishing industry is huge. Mom and Pops tackle shops, boat manufacturers, process in facilities, tackle manufacturers, motels and restraunts, and a host of other business all see economic benefit from those salmon. Not to much economic benefit from native plant restoration. As far as your General contractor commen goes, That money also gets spread out through out the economy well. Figure 1 general Contractor, usually 20-30 subcontractors, 100+ suppliers, not counting the influx of stimulus to the local economies service sectors. Try thinking obejectively instead of subjectively.. It goes along ways to making ones rants and opinions palatible to the general public.
Here’s a link to one project in Blaine County that will use this stimulus money for restoration – it looks like it will be on private lands.
http://www.mtexpress.com/vu_breaking_story.php?bid=7111