PLAN AIMED AT SAVING HATCHERY.

Byline: Bill Becher Special to the Daily News

A new public-private partnership is being touted as a solution to problems facing the state's fish hatchery program. Budget and staff cuts have placed the Hot Creek Hatchery in Mammoth Lakes on the chopping block, along with several other salmon- and trout-rearing facilities.

Tim Alpers, a well-known Eastern Sierra trout rancher, has made a proposal that's getting serious attention at the Department of Fish and Game in Sacramento.

``We want to set up a public-private program at the hatchery as a demonstration project to show that a private foundation can work with the state, co-manage the facility and provide an additional revenue stream to keep it open and improve it,'' said Alpers.

With the support of local governments and businesses Alpers has created the Hot Creek Hatchery Foundation, a nonprofit organization that plans to raise $375,000 to help pay operating costs.

``We'll pay the electric bill and buy the fish food,'' said Alpers. The hatchery will continue to be staffed by DFG employees.

Last summer, Mono County, the town of Mammoth Lakes and local citizens chipped in $25,000 to help fund seasonal workers at the hatchery to keep the stocking program going. Alpers wants to go beyond that kind of financial assistance, with the ultimate goal of making the hatchery self-sufficient.

``Not only do we want to keep it open, we want to make it more angler-friendly,'' said Alpers. ``We want handicapped access, kid fishing opportunities ... we want to partner with schools to build up an intern program to create an opportunity for employment for local students interested in a career in fishery resources.''

The Hot Creek Hatchery Foundation plans to raise money from businesses, governments and foundations. They envision offering tours, building a visitors' center and providing more public access to the hatchery. Selling surplus fish eggs to private trout farms to generate revenue is another possibility.

Alpers praised state officials including Ryan Broddrick, the newly appointed DFG Director, for listening to ``outside the box'' ideas and promising to work with the local community to save the hatchery.

``We realize the importance these hatcheries have in supporting recreational opportunities in local communities,'' said Broddrick. ``And we're committed to the concept of fast-tracking this idea and having the agreement finalized by the beginning of the 2004-05 fiscal year.''

He noted that legal and financial issues need to be resolved before the program can take effect. State officials hope that the foundation can serve as a template for similar efforts throughout the state's hatchery system.

Alpers says he's not trying to take over the hatchery, which he does not see as competition to his own trophy-trout rearing business.

``The demand for fish is so huge in the Eastern Sierra that I couldn't raise enough fish on my ranch to satisfy what the marketplace wants,'' said Alpers. ``The Hot Creek Hatchery is one of reasons I got into the fish business.''

``My dad took me there when I was 6. He lifted me up and seeing the troughs where the little fish were made an imprint on my brain.''

Later, DFG hatchery personnel supplied Alpers with technical assistance when he set up rearing ponds at his ranch in the 1970s.

``So this is kind of a payback time for me,'' said Alpers.