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Two national fish hatcheries that raise Atlantic salmon in Hancock County could be opened to public hunting for the first time through a proposal to increase hunting and fishing access on federally managed lands.
The Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery in Orland and the Green Lake National Fish Hatchery in Ellsworth are the only Maine properties on a federal list of more than 100 in 32 states that could be opened to or expanded for fishing or hunting under a Trump administration directive.
Visitors to both hatcheries would be able to hunt upland game, big game and some migratory birds, according to agency proposal documents. Deer and wild turkey hunts would likely be the primary attractions. Both properties already provide access to fishing areas.
The proposal follows an announcement by the federal Department of the Interior of major expansions to fishing and hunting access on department-managed lands, which includes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s largest hunting and fishing expansion proposal in history. The wildlife service manages both of the national hatcheries in Hancock County.
The proposal also lifts hunting restrictions at National Park Service properties where hunting is legal. Hunting has been banned on Mount Desert Island, home to Acadia National Park, for nearly a century, though residents of Tremont will be allowed to hunt deer there this fall following a local vote aimed at reducing populations.
The Department of Interior presented the hunting and fishing proposals as an expansion of access to public land through removing “unnecessary bureaucracy” and making federal land management more consistent.
The proposal would lead to about 95% of National Wildlife Refuge System land, or 92 million acres, being open to hunting or fishing. Some of Maine’s national wildlife refuge lands already allow hunting, but no new ones are included in the proposal.
Nationwide, 14 refuges and 3 of the 4 hatcheries, including the two in Hancock County, would open to such activity for the first time.
The two national fish hatcheries in Hancock County raise stock for Atlantic salmon conservation efforts in the state and beyond. The Craig Brook hatchery just off of Route 1 in East Orland was established in 1889, and Ellsworth’s Green Lake indoor aquaculture hatchery was built in 1973.
Under the proposal, 90 acres of the 135-acre Craig Brook hatchery property and 65 acres of the 130-acre Green Lake hatchery would open to hunting, with the rest closed to keep safe areas for staff.
Both sites would expect a small increase in visitors of up to five hunters to visit per day, with up to 600 hunts annually, according to hunting plans reviewed by the state. That would likely be heaviest during fall white-tailed deer season and spring wild turkey season, with two or three deer, two or three wild turkeys and an occasional rare black bear expected to be taken from each site each year.
Small game species including coyote, ruffed grouse, American woodcock, gray squirrel, snowshoe hare, woodchuck and red fox are present at the hatcheries, but hunting plans predict little traffic for those species, partly because trapping isn’t allowed.
Starting the hunting plan at Craig Brook is expected to cost $52,700 with $5,000 in annual operating costs, while adding hunting at Green Lake would run $55,300. Green Lake’s plan did not list ongoing costs. Funding will come from the federal fish and wildlife service’s regional office in Massachusetts, according to proposal documents.
Federal documents also include a proposal to remove a requirement to use lead-free ammunition when hunting at the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Wells and other land managed by its staff.
The refuge’s 2022 hunting plan had that requirement, but the fish and wildlife service proposed withdrawing it because of recent federal directives to cut back regulations and a “lack of reasonable and prudent alternatives.” Nontoxic shot requirements would stay in effect for a number of bird species.
Fish and Wildlife still “encourages” hunters to use lead-free ammunition to reduce lead in the environment and fragments that other wildlife species ingest, according to documents. The potential introduction of lead to the environment was reviewed in both Hancock County hatchery hunting plans, which concluded the amounts would be negligible.
Public comment on the proposed changes is open online until June 26.
