Representatives of over a dozen National Fish Hatchery Friends Groups meet in Washington D.C. with USFWS leadership.

Midwest Region Hatchery Operations Supervisor Todd Turner, Jordan River NFH Manager Roger Gordon, and Friends of the Jordan River NFH Vice President Jon Sumner recently met in Washington D.C. as part of a national fisheries work group.

The importance of citizen involvement in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) facilities, be they National Wildlife Refuges, Fishery Offices, or Ecological Service Field Stations, cannot be overstated. The support that private citizens lend to these and other USFWS offices represents millions of dollars annually in saved wages, as well as physical improvements to Service facilities. By far the most effective and sustained assistance that the Service receives  via organized citizen groups, is through it's Friends groups.

These groups, which number in excess of 200 in the National Wildlife Refuge System have been receiving renewed interest from the Fisheries and Habitat Conservation division of the Service in recent years. Fishery "Friends" groups, which now number more than 26 active organizations, provide direct assistance to National Fish Hatcheries and National Fish and Wildlife Conservation Offices via participation in public outreach events, visitor services support, fish culture and assessment operations, Congressional outreach, and a myriad of other ways.

In an effort to bolster the effectiveness of established Friends organizations nationwide, and to assist in the formulation of additional chapters, 14 Fishery Friends groups were invited to Washington D.C. by the Service to brainstorm together on these and other issues. The Friends groups were accompanied by fishery personnel from their respective stations, as well as representatives of Regional and Washington Office Fisheries Division leadership and staff. The group concentrated on the Fishery Friends Initiative, a framework established in 2006 by a coalition of advocacy groups associated with National Fish Hatcheries and the Division of Fisheries and Habitat Conservation, USFWS.

Participants covered topics such as maintenance shortfalls on Service facilities, funding for the Hatchery Volunteer Act of 2006, and Congressional outreach.  The Midwest Region was represented by citizens Jon Sumner, (Friends of the Jordan River NFH), George Goetz, (Friends of Pendills Creek NFH), and Glen Jenkins (Friends of the Upper Mississippi River Services).  These friends, and members of their respective hatcheries, also met individually with their House of Representatives and Senate staffers to inform Congress on the issues, challenges, and opportunities that the Services fishery division are currently engaged.  For more information about this or other operations associated with the Jordan River National Fish Hatchery, please contact Roger Gordon, Hatchery Manager at 231-584-2461 or e-mail roger_gordon@fws.gov