State Paper Tells Of Local Hatchery  

"OutDoor Indiana" Has PIcture and Story of Project

Culver's fish hatchery is featured int he October issue of "Outdoor Indiana", a monthly magazine published by the Indiana Conservation Department, under the heading "New FIsh Hatchery at Culver. Maxinkucke Fish and Game Club Builds Ponds Through Community Co-operation"

A large picture of the ponds was also carried.

The story was written by Miles R. Robinson at the request of Dr. C. G. Mackey, President of the local club, who had received a request for an article fromt he editor of the magazine.

The artice reads: The FIsh hatchery at Culver demonstrates convincingly that any community can have such a project if it so wills. From an idea to a reality in one year's time is the history of this hatchery in brief.


But to explain the growth of the idea and then its accomplishment as a guide and inspiration to other connunities, a fuller account is given.

Culver is located on Lake Maxinkuckee, the second argest body of water in Indiana, and for years it has been noted as a mecca for fishermen. But recently the citizens had noticed hat the quainty of fish had been gradually drecreasing, and the stock furnished by the state was not sufficient to keep up with the annual catches.

Those especially concerned with the lake's welfare discovered that a number of clubs over the state were maintiaing their own hatcheries and stocking their local streams and lakes. Studies were made of several hatcheries untill this small group of fishermen was convinced that they could operate fish ponds and that the building of a hatcher would solve the problem at Lake Maxinkuckee.

A site on property of the Culver Military Academy was selected as the most suitable, with the aid of men from the State Department of Conservation, and permission was granted by the school;s officials to use the land for a hatchery.

Then came the "selling" of the idea to the community, and the response was so wholehearted and immediate that even this small entusiastic group was surprised. The Maxinkuckee FIsh and Game Club was organized with a membership of 357, the fee being only 25 cents a year. It was decided to charge this small membership dues so as to get as many of the community interested as possible, rather than raise a larger sum of money from a few.

As soon as $22.50 had been raised actual work was started on the pnds. Such a small working capital might have discouraged some clubs but not teh uUlver group! A call was issued for volunteer labor, and a large number of men form town turned out to wield picks and shovels, but from the immediate rural territory came the donated help that was vital for success - teams and wagons.

One doesn't usually think of farmers as interested in conservation work, but it must be charged to improper approach. One day seventeen teams reported to work, and how the dirt did fly! One farmer C. W. Newman, donated a team for several weeks.

This widespread response has had a greater effect than just the completion of the ponds - it has resulted in no trouble from stealing of fish or mloseting of the ponds, for practically the whole community was interested in the hatcher and had shared in building it.

Seven hundred dollars were raised through donations, mostly in small amounts, to purchase the necessary equipment and pay for such labor that wasnot donated, and when the two ponds were complered no debt was hanging over the project to dampen ther enthusiasm and check later progress

The first year the Culver hatcher raised more fish than any other club in the state, and the members expect to repeat this production this year.

To cope with the drouth this year a six inch wll was drilled and a two inch centrifugal pump attached, which has saved the ponds and allowed the hatchery to operate under full capacity.

This year members volunteered to attend the ponds but it was recongnized that this coulf not be permanent and and now a caretasker is paid $150 a year, with an officer of the club designated as supervisor without pay.

The club has been responsible for stocking Lake Maxinkuckee with 1,290,00 fish during the past year which, coupled with the fact that members are takings a personal interest in checking violations of the fish laws has made fishing the best it had been in a number of years.

This spring the third pond was completed by relif work, which finishes the project as originally planned, allowing the club to produce an abunance supply of fish to be used for stocking Lake Maxinkuckee.

The club is landscaping the hatchery site, making it one of the sight seeing spots of the community and transforming the unattractive swamp into a beautiful and interesting area. Local citizens pont with pride to their accomplishment and have become distinctly "consevation conscious".

This year's officers of the Maxinkuckee FIsh and Game Club are:

Dr. C. G. Mackey, president
OLiver C. Shilling, viice president
George Stabenow, secretary and tresurer and
Charles Cowen, pond supervisor

to which group belings the lion's share of the credit for the formulation and comletion of the project.

What has been accomplished at Culver is not more than any other community can do if it arouses the necessary public interest with a determined group as anucleus, and conservation in Indiana will develop proportionately with the number of these clubs that are formed and adopt an active program