Weclome to Mammoth Spring National Fish Hatchery
Credit: USFWS
Mammoth Spring NFH was established in 1903 and is located in Mammoth Spring, Arkansas just across from the Missouri border about 65 miles northwest of Jonesboro, Arkansas. The hatchery is one of the oldest, built in the Ozark foothills in northeast Arkansas due to the availability of cool gravity flow water from the world’s tenth largest spring and easy access to the railroad. Current programs involve the restoration of interjurisdictional fishes (paddlefish and sturgeon); recovery of endangered and threatened species including freshwater mussels; restoration of Gulf Coast Striped Bass populations; restoration of walleye, smallmouth bass and rainbow trout in the White River drainage; and fishery management and stocking recreational fish on national wildlife refuges.
Every taxpayer $1 turns into $12 of net economic value when it is invested in recreational fish production at Mammoth Spring NFH.
The Economic Impact
Warmwater fish stocked for recreational fishing, such as smallmouth bass, striped bass and walleye, have a tremendous economic impact. For every tax dollar spent for recreational fish production at Mammoth Spring NFH, $12 of net economic value is created. This amounts to a total economic output of more than $1.5 million every year! This economic stimulus comes from taxes generated, jobs created, and retail sales (like gas, food, lodging, rods and reels, and bait and tackle), all of which are created because of the recreational fish stocked out of Mammoth Spring NFH. The amount of taxpayer dollars used to support Mammoth Spring NFH’s yearly recreational fish production is far less than the taxes it generates! This activity creates 17 jobs with $380,000 in salary and wages earned. Mammoth Spring NFH is one of eight National Fish Hatcheries across the Southeast that is responsible for $26.8 million in annual economic benefits through warmwater recreational fish production.
