Internship at Chattahoochee Forest National Fish Hatchery
Author: Johnny Beno
Faculty Supervisor: C. Tate Holbrook, Ph.D.
Abstract:
In the summer of 2017, I worked as a summer intern with the US Fish and Wildlife Service at the Chattahoochee Forest National Fish Hatchery. My responsibilities were participating in the day to day tasks that the permanent staff carries out year round. During my time there, I learned a lot about husbandry and what it takes to raise close to a million fish in a year, as well as the web of cooperation between state and federal agencies that is required to finance and maintain a huge operation like the hatchery. The most important thing that I learned about this summer was the decline of governmental funding for things like wildlife conservation and resource management. This showed me how important it is to get people to care about wildlife conservation so that organizations like the Fish and Wildlife Service have funding to carry out their basic purpose of providing a chance for people to get outside and enjoy nature through activities like fishing, hunting, and hiking.
