Originally operated by
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, this hatchery was sold by them in January of 2013 to Stevens County, which plans to use it as an educational and vocational learning centre.
The 100-year-old trout hatchery is located at 390 N Hofstetter in Colville. It was involved in the
Lake Roosevelt Sturgeon Recovery Project in 2007, releasing 100 White Sturgeon that it had reared at the Kettle Falls Marina in May of 2008. Through its 100 year history it otherwise hatched and reared trout exclusively.
From
The Spokesman-Review:
W. L. and Minnie Sax of Colville sold the land to the county for $150 in 1918. The deed stipulates that a hatchery established on the property around 1913 be continued.
The county sold the land to the state in 1933, when a statewide initiative transferred fish and wildlife management authority from the counties to the new voter-created Washington Game Department. The state upgraded the hatchery in 1944.
In recent years, the hatchery staff has raised 400,000 to 600,000 cutthroat and rainbow trout and kokanee for recreational fishing at about 60 lakes in Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille counties. But the facility has been eyed for closure off and on for about 15 years as the Department of Fish and Wildlife has dealt with budget woes.
The Colville Confederated Tribes supplemented the operation in 1999 and then in 2000 with additional help from the Pend Oreille County PUD.
The Tribe stepped up again starting in 2009 with $108,000 to $114,000 a year to fund hatchery operations for sport anglers as well as tribal members, but the agreement was never intended to be permanent.