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OUTDOOR EDUCATION Butte Falls launches effort to turn old fish hatchery into destination learning center Comment By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman Posted Aug. 22, 2016 at 12:01 AM Updated Aug 22, 2016 at 9:33 AM By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman Posted Aug. 22, 2016 at 12:01 AM Updated Aug 22, 2016 at 9:33 AM --> Hatchery has a long history The Butte Falls Hatchery began raising spring chinook salmon for the Rogue River in 1915, collecting its brood stock in lower Big Butte Creek and raising th... » Read more X Hatchery has a long history The Butte Falls Hatchery began raising spring chinook salmon for the Rogue River in 1915, collecting its brood stock in lower Big Butte Creek and raising the fry with fresh, cool creek water. Later, trout were raised there, placed on railcars at an adjacent rail line and shipped to lakes throughout the region. In 1931, the federal government added another 4-acre parcel for raising more salmon and eventually turned that part of the facility over to the former Oregon Fish Commission. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife flirted with closing the Butte Falls Hatchery since 1976, when the federally funded Cole Rivers Hatchery opened, but it survived. In 2001, ODFW was set to close the run-down and aged facility, but townspeople and a collection of southwestern Oregon state legislators convinced the Oregon Legislature to order ODFW to keep it open and funded a year's operation. To operate it in the 21st century, ODFW spent $875,000 on improvements. It went back online in 2003. By 2006, it graded out as the best of Oregon's nine hatcheries funded solely with state money. That same year, a disease outbreak shuttered production. After a four-year quarantine, the hatchery was ready to go back to work, but it didn't meet Clean Water Act rules and needed a $1 million facelift, so it was closed. In 2011, the Butte Falls School District sought to get possession of it for an outdoor nature lab. A few other potential suitors pulled out, and ODFW in 2012 deeded 10 acres to the school district. The remaining 3 acres and hatch house reverted to the federal government based on a 1941 agreement.   » Social News BUTTE FALLS — Fish raceways used to raise millions of young salmon and steelhead for nearly a century could be used to grow shiitake mushrooms, wasabi and perhaps even shrimp, all cultivated by kids and sold for profit. Footpaths over Ginger Creek will get new bridges wide enough for golf carts to ferry disabled kids into old-growth Douglas fir groves and grassy expanses at the former Butte Falls Hatchery. Two adjacent homes on the property could house homeless kids, while another could provide quarters for college students working on research projects. Four years after it took possession of most of the former hatchery, the Butte Falls School District is launching an ambitious effort to turn the retired facility into a destination learning center with myriad ventures so it could eventually pay for itself. The district, which took possession of 10 acres of the 13-acre site just outside of town in 2012, is on the cusp of acquiring the remaining 3 acres, which include the hatch house and three residences from the federal Department of Education, where the deed landed after that sliver of the property reverted to the federal government in 2011. The district has set aside about $160,000 as seed money for grants and in-kind contributions needed to get the estimated $600,000 in improvements and upgrades over the next three years to create the learning lab that was envisioned when the district took possession of the property. It's a big vision, but the district is all-in on making it happen. "This is the part where it becomes real," says Chris Mathas, hired by the district to shepherd the project, collect donations and acquire grants. "What we have is a collaborative effort that I'm building right now, and it's going to generate a lot of industry support," Mathas says. Plans are to cut about a dozen drought-stressed trees on the property to use as lumber for construction projects that, over time, will create a natural resources center that would be used by Butte Falls Charter School's 160 students and visiting kids from regional school districts. "We could be talking about thousands of students annually," Mathas says. So far there's been mostly talk about what to do with the property since it fell to the district after spending 95 years raising salmon, steelhead and trout. The hatchery, which was opened in 1915 to take advantage of crystal clear Ginger Creek water, was operated for decades by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and after numerous financial and structural problems, it was rebuilt in 2003 and judged Oregon's best state-run hatchery in 2006. But a disease outbreak shuttered production that same year. Four years later, the hatchery was deemed disease-free, but efforts to reopen it sank from the weight of $1 million in required improvements amid agency budget cuts. ODFW looked to divest itself of the property, and after being approached by Jackson County, ODFW deeded its 10 acres to the school district in 2012. The deed includes the acreage as well as an old house used as an office, a garage, a cold-storage building once used to store fish feed and a dried-up pond. The district also has access to a sliver of the hatchery's old water right to fill the concrete raceways, but not the three residences and the hatch house. A 1941 agreement meant the remaining 3 acres with those structures on them had to revert back to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service when ODFW stopped hatchery operations. The land eventually ended up in the hands of the DOE. As with the state-owned piece of property five years ago, the school is the only potential taker for the remaining acreage, Mathas says, and a land transfer could be completed "any day now." The past four years have been slow-go at the center, which has housed some school events and boasts a partnership with Southern Oregon University, but it hasn't gelled as originally envisioned. "A lot of it was because we didn't have a lot of money, and we didn't have the whole hatchery," school Principal Dianne Gorman says. "Some dreams are bigger than what you can make happen," she says. "I think we need to take baby steps." A big step came in July with the hiring of Mathas to shepherd the project, Gorman says. Butte Falls leads Oregon in homelessness, with a high rate of sofa-surfing kids who need stable settings. "It became apparent that, hey, we need to help those kids," Gorman says. "Getting those other houses made it seem kind of obvious." But the big push will be the educational component centered around hydroponics, Mathas says. The shiitake mushrooms, wasabi and shrimp will be grown in the concrete raceways and sold for profit. Other ventures eyed for the center include growing industrial hemp, a museum, amphitheater and even a bicycle repair shop. Mathas says he knows it's a big dream, but the district has to occupy the usable buildings within a year of taking possession of them to help kids learn about the natural environment while cranking out mushrooms and wasabi to pay the bills. "It will be self-sustaining at some point, but we don't know when," Mathas says. "I think the story here is going to be pretty interesting in the next couple years." Reach Mail Tribune reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman . By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman Posted Aug. 22, 2016 at 12:01 AM Updated Aug 22, 2016 at 9:33 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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