The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which threatened this summer to shut down many of its 70 fish hatcheries, has announced it would keep the hatcheries open but warned that sequestration cuts could close them in the fiscal 2015 budget.
It’s good news that the USFWS is going to keep its hatcheries open for another year. Federal agencies have been in an uproar over the across-theboard sequestration cuts necessitated by an earlier debt ceiling agreement.
Many of the threatened sequestration cuts make little sense.
What’s the purpose of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service if it’s not to propagate fish and restore fisheries?
Why would the USFWS threaten to close fish hatcheries? Perhaps because they’re popular with the public, many of whom like to fish. Stop stocking lakes and streams and maybe the public will demand more money for the USFWS budget.
It wouldn’t be the first time a federal agency threatened to close a popular program as a bargaining chip during budget discussions. But the tactic is getting old.
— Rapid City (S.D.) Journal
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