Dworshak National Fish Hatchery was built at the confluence of the main stem and North Fork of the Clearwater River by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in conjunction with Dworshak Dam as a mitigation measure for the B-run steelhead that could no longer migrate up the North Fork.

The hatchery was built on 22 acres of what was the Carney Pole Yard. It also impacted the Nez Perce Indian Northfork Presbyterian Church which now sits to the east of the hatchery complex.

At the time it was built in the late 1960s, it was the largest steelhead fish hatchery in the world. During construction fo the dam, adult migrating fish were gathered at the downstream end of the Dworshak diversion tunnel and taken upstream around the construction area in tank trucks. The dam blocked the passage for the fish and its height made construction of fish ladders impossible.

Today, Dworshak hatchery raises cold-water fish species: Clearwater River B-run steelhead, spring Chinook and coho salmon and rainbow trout. It is one of the world's largest combination producers of anadromous fish, those that begin their lives in fresh water and then migrate to the Pacific Ocean to spend one to four years before returning to their birth streams to spawn.

The hatcchery is unique in that the water temperatures for the rearing ponds can be temperature controlled through recirculation and filtration similar to an aquarium. Depending on the time of year the wter can be either heated or cooled to the proper temperature for each fish species, according to hatchery info.

In addition to raising the fish, the hatchery has a fish health center originally constructed in 1969. It provides fish health services to government and private entities in Idaho eastern Washington, eastern Oregon. It also works cooperatively with Tribes and federal and state agencies.

The hatchery is co-managed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho.

For further information, see their web site at: http://www.fws.gov/dworshak/.

Just a note: the hatchery is currently closed to the public for construction. It will reopen in February.

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