Wildlife Service Says No Plans to Close Booth Hatchery

SPEARFISH, S.D. (AP) — A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official says the agency has no plans to close the D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery and Archives in South Dakota.

Acting assistant regional director Jeff Fleming also tells the Black Hills Pioneer that the agency has no plans to move the archives to another location.

U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem this week added an amendment to an Interior Department appropriations bill that would prohibit funds from being used to close the hatchery.

The hatchery's future has been uncertain since it was targeted for closure in 2013. Congress that year eventually ordered that no hatcheries be closed, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year again said it was considering moving the archives to a West Virginia site due to budget priorities.

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