Hatchery to dedicate East Orland facility

EAST ORLAND – The 131-year-old Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery will officially dedicate its $11.3 million facility Sept. 28.

The ceremony will celebrate a 12-year effort to improve the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hatchery, which has been described as a “key component in the effort to restore Atlantic salmon to Maine rivers.”

The construction, which included a 50,000-square-foot building and an expansion of the water treatment facility, began in 1989 and was completed in 2000.

The dedication will start at 10 a.m. and end at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28. Fred Kircheis of the Atlantic Salmon Commission and Carl Burgher, the recently hired manager of the new complex, will speak. Tours of the hatchery will be offered. For information, contact the hatchery at 469-7300.