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Kootenai Tribe Hatchery open house and public
presentation
a fun and interesting success |
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October 26, 2015 |
You don't get many chances to see the inside
operations of our local world-class sturgeon and
burbot hatchery.
One chance was last Friday, when The Twin Rivers
Sturgeon and Burbot Hatchery, located in
Boundary County at the confluence of the
Kootenai and the Moyie rivers and operated by
the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, was open to the
public, providing public tours for the first
time since its dedication a year ago.
(Story continues below this photo).
Those taking advantage of the opportunity to
personally walk through and view the ambitious
aquaculture program were able to see huge rooms
full of large tanks, those tanks full of young
sturgeon and burbot. The Tribe is working to
restore healthy populations of these fish to the
Kootenai River, where the fish once thrived in
years past.
On Friday, visitors could join a guided tour,
listen to presentations of the program given by
hatchery staff, view instructional videos, pick
up informative handouts about the hatchery and
its aquaculture program, and grab some punch and
cookies.
A nd see drawings of sturgeon and burbot
inscribed into the sidewalks around the
hatchery.
Hatchery staff released thousands of young
burbot into the river in recent weeks, but held
back another few thousand for the public to see
at the hatchery's one-day open house.
If you did not make it to the open house, take a
look at the photographs accompanying this
article. It's an exciting sight to see tanks
full of young sturgeon vigorously swimming,
awaiting their release into the Kootenai River,
along with the young burbot who seem to like to
clump together, also awaiting their new river
home.
(Story continues below this photo).
Later in the day, the Tribe provided a special
meeting at the Kootenai River Inn, open to the
public, where they presented information and
updates about their ongoing program to restore
habitat features to the Kootenai River to
encourage robust and growing populations of
sturgeon, burbot, and other fish and wildlife in
and around the river. After the formal
presentation, managers of the program and some
of the experts involved took questions from the
forty or so people in attendance. Interest was
high, the audience had many questions, and the
question and answer session itself lasted at
least half an hour.'
Afterward, the doors to the Kootenai River Inn
outdoor deck were opened, and the crowd was
treated to direct river side views of the
currently ongoing Bonners Ferry Islands project,
where deep river pools have recently been
constructed, along with two new islands along
with restoration of river banks. At this time,
the islands are being planted with appropriate
vegetation. You can see our recent story
with all the details and history of the Kootenai
River Habitat Restoration Program by
clicking here--and
answers to questions you may likely have about
the program.
During the presentation, it was pointed out that
many of the workers and operators on the
project, along with several of the
subcontractors involved, are local Boundary
County companies and local employees.
Enjoy these photographs of the fun and
informative day of the exciting program to
improve the Kootenai River habitat, cultivate
new generations of sturgeon and burbot, and
re-introduce them into the river.
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