Chehalis Basin Fisheries Task Force         
Home | Board of Directors | Bulletin | Projects | Area Served | Pertinent Facts | History | EDT | Salmon | Become a Member | Contact Us | Links | Volunteer

Satsop Springs Hatchery

The Satsop Springs Hatchery is one of the most beautiful, cost-effective and efficient salmon facilities in Washington State.  Located at the confluence of the east Satsop and Satsop Rivers, this facility is operated by the Chehalis Basin Fisheries Task Force and is the result of the hard work and vision of many talented people (formerly operated by the Elma Game Club and Grays Harbor Trout Unlimited).

Background:
Originally a WDFW owned and operated facility; the Satsop Springs rearing ponds were permanently closed with no contingency for future use.  A group of volunteers led by the Elma Game Club and Grays Harbor Trout Unlimited took interest in the site.  With funding from the Chehalis Basin Fisheries Task Force (CBFTF) they took on the project of restoring the Satsop Springs hatchery. 

When restoration began, all that existed at the site were grass-covered fields with one pond in the middle covered by rotten perdition net.  Most who viewed the site had no idea they were looking at what would become the heart of numerous Chehalis Basin Projects.  The support of the WDFW Bingham Hatchery remains a key element in successful restoration efforts.  Working in partnership, Bingham has allowed volunteers to operate this cost-effective program without duplicating WDFW efforts.

Volunteer Efforts:
The largest group of Satsop Springs volunteers were Elma Game Club members who respectfully earned the middle name of "Scrounge".  A site visit to this facility shows the results born of that term along with thousands of hours of volunteer effort to back up their endeavors.  A good example of their talent and cooperation is the truck used throughout the Basin during broodstocking.  Auto dealer Stormy Glick purchased the former U-Haul truck at auction. He "sold" it to the volunteers for no set amount, without interest and no debt due date.

Max Durward installed a new transmission and along with help from Dave Hamilton installed a fiberglass tank on the bed.  Elma Auto painted the truck and Ashe Signs did the lettering.  All this teamwork provided the Satsop Springs facility with a $25,000 truck for only $7,000 of out-of-pocket expense.

The site shop came about in the same fashion with Weyerhaeuser donating a cash match.  Vaughn Pump volunteered engineers to install the $5,000 pump they donated to solve system cleaning problems at the Satsop Springs.  Contractors haul bark, gravel and concrete from Bayview on donated time.

1999 also proved to be a year of great change for the Satsop Springs facility.  Volunteers converted the incubation and rearing facilities at the Satsop Springs to recondition adult Steelhead.  Adult hatchery Steelhead, once destroyed when spawned at WDFW hatcheries will now be live spawned and transported to the Satsop Springs.  Volunteers will nurse the adults back to health and starting in April begin to plant them in local lakes to create a sport fishery.  Efforts are underway to create specialized fly fishing clinics for the physically challenged.

In addition to producing fish, this facility has undergone a renovation by constructing an abatement area, which brings the facility into compliance with the Department of Ecology’s permitting process. The new abatement area allows water pumped from the ponds during the spring clean-up to naturally filter through the ground back into the watershed system. This abatement area was made possible with the collaboration of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife staff, particularly Ron Warren, Hatcheries Division Manager, and Randy Aho, Twin Harbors Complex Manager. 

Accomplishments:
Today Satsop Springs fully accomplishes the Task Force’s original intent to "Provide fish for all users.  In 2007 alone, these volunteers produced and released more than 198,300 Chum, 45,600 Chinook smolt, and 450,000 Coho smolt.  The project also reared and released 4,000 trophy Rainbow trout into local lakes (averaging 6 lbs. each, with the biggest at 20 lbs. 8 oz.).  In addition to these efforts, a juvenile passage was maintained to allow access to 3 acres of additional overwintering ponds, and continuing improvements to the fish ladder allowed for 2 acres of additional overwintering ponds at the southern entrance to the facility.  With these improvements nearly 8 acres of overwintering habitat is now available to wild salmonid use during times of high flows.  Many volunteers enjoy a great personal reward as they watch their release return to the project as adults. 

Volunteer man-hours for this project totaled 3288 in 2007.