U.S.

Fish & Wildlife Service

Neosho National Fish Hatchery Newsletter
May - July 2010

The Future of Fisheries

Above: Jordan and Dustin clean the tail
box of a raceway.
Right: Greg teaching at the knot-tying
station during the kids fishing derby.
Bottom: Jordan, Elizabeth and Dustin, our
YCC crew, celebrate the completion of
their 8-week internship.
Being situated right in town really gives us an advantage.
Neighbored by mainly residential properties, we are surrounded
by families with kids. From an early age, those children either
have been to our facility on field trips, participated in one of our
public events, driven by us as they pass through town, or heard
about us in the local news. Occasionally, when those children
become teenagers, they call on us for summer internships. And
that is where we can help each other. Starting as early as April,
we had volunteers offering to help whenever they could. We
also celebrated our first year with three Youth Conservation
Corps (YCC) interns. This is an eight week program that allows
youth between ages 15-18 to work and learn about public lands
projects.
Greg Davidson of Joplin, MO is 23 and has a Bachelor’s of
Science from University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. He volunteers
Mondays when he isn’t preoccupied with his full-time job. He is
a great addition to our team and we enjoy hearing his stories of
travelling abroad.

Jordan Shope of Wyandotte, OK started volunteering in early May and became

one of our YCC students. Jordan is 15 and has a driver’s permit. Every
morning and afternoon that he works, his mom or brother(s) ride along on the 45
minute drive so that Jordan can continue volunteering. Now that the YCC
program is over, he still volunteers with us once a week. Jordan has a fantastic
work ethic and can withstand this summer’s high heat indices better than any of
us!

Next came twenty year old Jesse Rogers, an undergraduate student from Northeastern Oklahoma
A&M College in Miami, OK. He volunteered at the hatchery for a little over a month while earning
college credit. Jesse did a great job and his humorous stories will be missed.

Dustin Smith and Elizabeth Wood joined the YCC program in June. Both Dustin and Elizabeth are 16
and live in Neosho. While working with us, Dustin
gained a new respect for sturgeon tagging and
scute removal. He is a hard worker and did an
excellent job. We wish him luck at his next tractor
pull and FFA milk tasting contest.

Elizabeth learned how to drive stick shift this

summer on our Cushman carts while working at the
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hatchery. She is great at taking the initiative and also has a great work ethic. We wish Elizabeth all
the best in her academic endeavors and collection of all things miniature.
Tom Jay, a summer intern from last year’s A+ Program has returned. Now working with Alternative
Opportunities, Inc. based out of the Joplin Career Center, Tom will continue working at the hatchery
until the end of August.
We are grateful for all of our volunteers who donate their precious free time to
learn about what we do at the hatchery. This is our first year hosting the YCC
program and it surely will not be the last. It was a true joy to work with such
bright young people. In exchange, they gained hands-on experience in the
daily tasks of fish biologists.
Mako Fly-fishing Clinic
The Mako Flyfishers of
Joplin, MO came out for an
interactive fun-filled day at
the hatchery. Children were
taught fly-tying and fly rod
casting technique by club
members. Although it was a
hot and humid summer day,
our picnic shelters provided
shade and grass lawns
provided plenty of casting
space for all.
Newton County Fair
This year’s county fair fell on the second week of July. We were excited to
show off the new impressive USFWS Fisheries backdrop at our booth. The
four day event allowed us to answer many questions about the new Visitor
Center, pass out candy and pencils to kids, and engage the public.
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May-July 2010
Meetings
Manager David
Hendrix and
Assistant Manager
Roderick May flew
to Atlanta, Georgia
to meet with Malone
Inc. in regards to our
exhibit displays.
Malone constructs
and assembles the
exhibits for our
visitor center at their
facility in Atlanta.
Pending proper fit
and final approval,
the final pieces will
be assembled there,
taken down and
shipped, and
reassembled in the
new visitor center.
Lead Biologist
Jaime Pacheco and
Biologist Jeff
Messens attended
this year’s Coldwater
Fish Culturist
Meeting in Osceola,
Wisconsin. Despite,
a bee sting to the
eye, Jaime shared a
presentation on our
pallid sturgeon
production at the
meeting.
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May-July 2010

Fishing Derby Time

Our Kids and Handicapped and Elderly Fishing Derbies
occurred in the second and third weeks of June, respectively.
With excellent assistance from our Friends of Neosho National
Fish Hatchery Group, our YCC, and volunteers, the Kids Derby
flowed very smoothly. Although a fraction of our usual fishing
derby pond was off limits due to Visitor Center construction and
cement was poured near the main parking lot just that morning,
the Kids Fishing Derby was a success. We had over 220
children ages 7-12.
The Handicapped and Elderly Derby attracted many excited
participants. Although we did have some hot weather, the
event was not shortened due to rain like last year’s and most
participants reached their quota of 4 fish.
Right Photo: Graham
Bunting, a volunteer, instructs
children on knot tying during
the Kids Fishing Derby.
Left Photo: Lead Biologist
Jaime Pacheco helps a happy
participant of the derby
Special Visits remove the hook from his
rainbow trout.
Stuart Leon, USFWS’s Division
Chief of Fisheries stopped in
during the month of July. He took
the time to meet our YCC interns
(as pictured at right) and went out
to lunch with all of the staff.

Cecilia Lewis visited the hatchery

in June from the Arlington,
Virginia office. Currently a SCEP
student, Cecilia was in Biologist
Melissa’s Fisheries Academy
class at the National Conservation
Training Center in
Shepherdstown, West Virginia.
That same class was coordinated
by Assistant Manager Rod this
year.

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May-July 2010

Fish Going and Coming

Biologists Jaime Pacheco and Melissa Cheung
traveled to Ponca State Park and Nebraska City to
stock juvenile sturgeon during the second week of
June. After spending the night in Yankton, South
Dakota, we stopped by Gavins Point National Fish
Hatchery to pick up broodstock pallid sturgeon.
Gavins Point had kindly agreed to hold these two
broodstock fish for us until we could retrieve them.
After a brief tour of their sturgeon facilities and a
welcome coffee refill, we began our eight hour drive
back to Neosho. The adult sturgeon arrived safely
and continue to look healthy.
Above Photo: Previous Hatchery Manager Kurt Schilling and now Acting Manager Jeff Powell of Gavins Point
NFH load the adult pallid sturgeon into our stocking trailer.

Seventeen Hours for Surplus Fish

Above Photo: Biologist Melissa weighs
rainbow trout before passing them to Lead
Biologist Jaime to be loaded.
Right Photo: Robert Blankenship (on truck)
loads rainbow trout into fish compartment.
In the event that our hatchery has surplus rainbow trout,
Neosho NFH makes an effort to donate fish to federal and
state hatchery facilities as well as Native American tribes.
After making the necessary
calls and finding that no one
nearby needed our surplus
fish, we called the Eastern
Band of Cherokee Indians in
Cherokee, North Carolina.
Robert Blankenship, program
manager to their Fisheries and
Wildlife Management Program,
made two 17 hour trips out to
our facility. He visited us twice
to pick up rainbow trout.
These fish will be raised and
stocked on tribal land.

Unless otherwise stated, articles are written and assembled by Melissa Cheung.

Interested in learning more about what we do? Visit our blog at www.NeoshoNFH.blogspot.com
520 E Park Street, Neosho, MO 64850
417-451-0554