About Us
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Fisheries Program in the Mountain-Prairie Region helps conserve, protect, and enhance aquatic resources and provides economically valuable recreational fishing to anglers across the country. The program comprises 12 National Fish Hatcheries; a National Fish Technology and National Fish Health Center; and 8 Fish and Wildlife Conservation Offices serving Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
The Region’s National Fish Hatcheries produce millions of coldwater, coolwater, and warmwater game fish every year for stocking in public lakes, rivers, and streams. Hatchery-raised fish meet legally mandated "mitigation" requirements, compensating for fish losses caused by federal water projects and associated dams. The hatcheries also raise native fish and other aquatic wildlife to help restore populations in the wild and to support recovery of threatened and endangered species. Two of the Mountain-Prairie hatcheries – one in Ennis, Montana and the other in Saratoga, Wyoming – are part of the National Broodstock Program, providing disease-free and genetically sound eggs to dozens of states, tribes, other hatcheries, and research facilities. These eggs support production of millions of fish for recreational angling opportunities, species recovery and restoration, mitigation, tribal subsistence fishing, and other fisheries activities.