FWS Funding

Floor Speech

Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, like many Arkansans, I am very concerned about the administration's proposal to cut $6,288,000 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, FWS, National Fish Hatchery Operations, where the production of fish is for the purpose of mitigating the effects of Federal water development projects. Under this proposal, several National Fish Hatcheries, including the Greers Ferry and Norfork National Fish Hatcheries in Arkansas, are scheduled to lose their FWS funding. The reliability of alternative mechanisms to provide Federal funding for the operation of FWS mitigation hatcheries is currently uncertain.

I am working with the Arkansas delegation and the administration to preserve the ongoing responsibility of FWS to fund and operate the National Fish Hatcheries at Norfork and Greers Ferry Dams, and to make sure we ``allow the investment in these hatcheries to continue to contribute to the economic vitality'' of Arkansas communities and our country.

Accordingly, I ask unanimous consent to have the Arkansas House Resolution No. 1014 of 2011, which was adopted in its entirety on February 24, 2011, by the Arkansas House of Representatives, printed in the Record.

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:

House Resolution No. 1014

Whereas, the United States Fish & Wildlife Service plans to cut the budgets for the trout hatcheries below Norfork and Greers Ferry dams; and

Whereas, these fish hatcheries provide the foundation for Arkansas's world-renowned trout fishery waters that produce a total economic impact of well over one hundred fifty million dollars ($150,000,000) annually but only 9 cost taxpayers approximately one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) annually to operate. The hatcheries at Norfork and Greers Ferry dams alone generate five million five hundred thousand dollars ($5,500,000) in federal tax revenues, roughly three dollars and sixty-five cents ($3.65) for every one dollar ($1.00) invested; and

Whereas, seventy-five (75) years ago, north Arkansas's White River was arguably the best smallmouth bass stream in America. Fisherman came from all over the country to experience once-in-a-lifetime float trips down the beautiful bluff-lined river; and

Whereas, upon a series of dams being built in the White River basin in the 1940s, the federal government assured the state's citizens that mitigation efforts would be included to offset the loss of the river's incredibly productive native fishery. The key component of this commitment was the construction of Norfork National Fish Hatchery in 1955 near Norfork Dam and the establishment of world-class trout waters below both Norfork and Bull Shoals lakes; and

Whereas, a decade later, the trout hatchery at the base of Greers Ferry Dam provided the means for a similarly successful fishery to be established at the Little Red River in Greers Ferry; and

Whereas, these modest projects rank among the all-time success stories of our federal government because of the overall economic impact and return on investment they produce; and

Whereas, fish production at the Norfork hatchery employs nine hundred ninety-four (994) individuals, and the Greers Ferry hatchery employs an additional seven hundred fifty-two (752) people; and

Whereas, dozens of resorts employing hundreds of individuals have been established in these world-class fishing areas because of the increase in tourism. The town of Cotter, Arkansas, for example, bills itself as ``Trout Capital USA''; and

Whereas, trout fishing in the White River basin is worth about three times the annual flood losses prevented by Beaver, Table Rock, Bull Shoals, Norfork, Greers Ferry, and Clearwater reservoirs, and these structures averted fifty-one million four hundred thousand dollars ($51,400,000) in damages in the last fiscal year; and

Whereas, the electricity generated from Bull Shoals Lake and Norfork Lake averages approximately one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) of electricity each year, but the trout fishery is worth an additional fifty percent (50%) more than that on an annual basis; and

Whereas, investment in the Norfork and Greers Ferry Fish hatcheries has consistently demonstrated positive returns for more than half a century. The federal government's goal to reduce the federal deficit and increase economic growth would be damaged, not enhanced, if funding for trout programs is reduced or eliminated to the detriment of its promise to Arkansas and to these small towns whose livelihood depends on the fish hatcheries: Now therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Eighty-Eighth General Assembly of the State of Arkansas, That the President and Congress of the United States work together to continue the immediate and future funding of the national fish hatcheries at Norfork and Greers Ferry dams and allow the investment in these hatcheries to continue to contribute to the economic vitality of these towns, the State of Arkansas, and the entire country; be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives forward official copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the Arkansas Congressional Delegation with the request that this resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record.

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