U.S.

Fish & Wildlife Service

Neosho National Fish Hatchery Newsletter
January 2011

It Pays to Have Friends

Just over a year ago the Friends of the Neosho National Fish Hatchery
(also known as our Friends group) learned they would be operating a gift
shop in our new hatchery visitor center. For start up funds they rallied
local support and recruited new members. Little did we hatchery staff
know that our Friends group was about to raise the bar for hatchery
Friends groups across Region 3.

The first line of business was to determine what would be sold. Friends
group members unanimously agreed that the focus should be on local
talent. Betty Wright, a Friends group member, was appointed gift shop
manager. With the help of other members, she recruited local artists to
donate or sell their handmade wares. By choosing products that originate
in the local area, the Friends group reduced shipping costs and the
A view of the visitor center gift shop amount of required start up funds. Aside from donated and purchased
items for sale, approximately 30% of the gift store’s merchandise is sold on
consignment. A portion of the purchase price for consigned items goes toward the fish hatchery.

The gift shop, operated solely by Friends group volunteers, has become a place to showcase local talent and
local support. While interviewing Betty in the gift shop, she told me a little about Bill Nichols, a folk artist who
has wood carvings of fish, geese, and quail on display. Betty recalled a hatchery visitor that had inquired if the
carvings were made in China. Upon learning that the carvings were made right here in the local area, the man
picked out two of the carvings and brought them to the register to buy. He later came back and bought two
more. Hatchery visitors like this gentleman appreciate the unique items offered at our gift shop.

More than half of the artists selling crafts in the gift shop are members of the Friends group or relatives of
members. Lee Ann Sours, Friends group member, gift shop volunteer, and local artist, uses native plants to
dye the yarn that she uses to make her trout patterned neck scarves. It takes time to create her masterpieces.
She uses parts of native plants such as walnut hulls, flowers, and berries to dye her yarn. During the visitor
center’s grand opening week, all four of her scarves on
display sold. She went home to weave more scarves as
fast as she could. Kay Hively, co-author of At This Place,
a book about the history of the Neosho National Fish
Hatchery, volunteers her time at the gift shop in addition
to being a lifetime Friends group member and Neosho
Daily News writer. At This Place is available for sale at
the gift shop.

Other locally made gifts include homemade scented soy

wax candles, walking sticks, printed postcards, fish stone
sculptures, sturgeon and trout inspired pottery, pins made
using fly tying materials, illustrated note cards, and
handmade birdhouses. Photos and names of the artists
are posted near the items as proof that the merchandise
is locally made. The center of the store showcases the work of a couple artists:
trout patterned scarves by Lee Ann Sours, a stone fish
sculpture by Jack Sours, and wood carvings by Bill Nichols.
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January 2011
Whenever possible, local businesses are featured. The Neosho NFH T-shirt design, created
by the daughter of a Friends group member, was printed by nearby Pittsburg State University
students. History books by local authors and nature books published by the Missouri
Department of Conservation are also available. Other items on sale for visitors include
children's books and cold drinks. Hatchery staff will have recycling bins set-up outside by
spring so that the public can recycle empty drink containers. Recycling bins are already used
inside the center and in the old hatchery building.

The Friends of Neosho NFH will be the only fisheries friends group represented in Region 3 at
the Friends Bookstore Workshop in Prairie City, Iowa this February. With snow and ice in the
winter forecast, however, the Friends group may not attend this year’s meeting. They will have
more opportunities later this year to share and brainstorm with other friends groups.

While the Friends group is proud of what they have accomplished,

Neosho Hatchery staff could not be more pleased. This was the
Friends group's first opportunity to plan and coordinate a major
fundraiser for the hatchery and their attention to detail and ability to
connect the local community have made the gift shop a success.
The future is bright for this Friends group. Although we are still in
the heart of the winter season, Neosho NFH takes it all as a sign of
good things to come. Ceramic casserole dish with
sturgeon design made by Jack
Left: Stewart Gofourth illustrated the original Sours.
seahorse weathervane in 1987. The art is printed on
note cards for sale in the gift shop.

Surveying Hatchery Spring Boxes

When biologist Blake Stephens inquired about surveying the

hatchery spring boxes for the endangered Ozark cavefish, we took
advantage of the opportunity to visit the springs in the winter and
assess their water quality. Taking advantage of some mild
January weather, biologist Melissa Cheung and two cavefish
biologists drove out to the springs. The biologists work for
Cavefish biologist Blake Stephens peers
Missouri State University and Missouri Department of into a spring box looking for critters.
Conservation. With flashlights in hand, the cavefish specialists
took note of any critters seen in the spring boxes and collected
sediment and water samples. Although we did find crayfish, pickerel
frogs, and a fishing spider, no cavefish were observed. Blake has
agreed to share his findings with us once the study is completed.

Left: This fishing spider was perched on the underside

of the spring box lid at Bartholic Spring.

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January 2011

Pallid Sturgeon Broodstock Evaluation

Every few months, we weigh the broodstock pallid sturgeon

on station. This is our chance to examine the overall health
of the fish. If they have not been fin clipped, that means a
DNA sample has not been sent to the geneticist. In that
case, we cut a small piece from their caudal or pectoral fin
and send it to LaCrosse Fish Health Center.

Because it can be awkward to weigh such large fish, we

have made a few adjustments in our weighing process. We
have a large shallow net with a modified hook attachment
that we built specifically for
obtaining sturgeon weights. We
hang the scale from a hook that
is screwed into the threshold of
View of our sturgeon weighing setup: Jaime weighs
a smaller broodstock specimen. Melissa is the garage door. A chain is used
recording the fish’s 10 digit PIT tag number. to adjust the height at which the
scale is hung from the hook. This
allows us plenty of room to maneuver our modified net when carrying a Scanning for a PIT tag with
restless sturgeon. The mesh size on the net is also small so that the the tag reader: The PIT tag is
sturgeon’s rostrum (snout) does not get caught in the mesh. embedded in the fish just
behind the dorsal fin.

Plaque Given to Hatchery for Preserving

History
Shoal Creek Historic Preservation dedicated a wooden
plaque to the fish hatchery for preserving the historic look of
the old hatchery in the new visitor center. The small private
group preserves local history by writing books and
acknowledges others for doing so with a plaque. Many
members of the group are also Friends of Neosho NFH.
The plaque was presented to hatchery manager David
Hendrix. The group is also responsible for putting the
history of the fish hatchery into writing in At This Place.

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January 2011

Boys Night Out

Friends group member Bill Franks brought 48 kids and 11 adults from his Assembly of God church
congregation to the hatchery visitor center for an evening activity called “Boys Night Out”. Lead
Biologist Jaime Pacheco guided the tour of the visitor center. While exploring the exhibit hall, many
were thrilled to discover that they could peer through the bubble of the aquarium tank and feel like
they were inside the tank with the fish. The night was concluded with a question and answer session
in the Rainbow Room.

The Red Hats are Coming!

Hatchery Manager David Hendrix gave a hatchery tour to
the Neosho’s Crimson Hat-titudes, a local branch of the
Red Hat Society. The group enjoyed their time so much
that they have scheduled two more tours for February,
weather permitting. Their presence really brightened up
the visitor center.

Meetings
Assistant Manager Rod May attended the pallid sturgeon work group meeting at the Powder Valley
Nature Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The two day meeting combined pallid sturgeon work groups from
the Middle and Lower Basin and the MICRA Paddlefish-Sturgeon Committee.

Lead Biologist Jaime Pacheco presented our methods of pallid sturgeon propagation at the Coolwater
Fish Culture Workshop in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Despite the winter weather and a couple flight delays,
a total of 12 states were represented at the meeting.

Hatchery Manager David Hendrix and Assistant Manager Rod May earned their recertification for
pesticide training in Columbia, Missouri. Required every 2 years, the training included state, federal, and
private workers and was geared toward aquatic chemicals.

During the first week of January, Administrative Assistant Heather Thorne traveled to St. Louis, Missouri
to assist in a Habitat Restoration workshop. Heather was one of four note takers that helped document
what was discussed during the three day workshop.

For questions or to receive our newsletter regularly, please email melissa_cheung@fws.gov and request to be added to the
email list.

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