BELLAIRE - A northern Michigan nonprofit is discussing what the future will look like after possible cuts from The Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE.
The Bellaire Conservation Club says they are losing their source for fish because of cuts to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“You know we can afford to buy some fish. We’re going to look at how much how many we really need. You know we’re not going to be able to buy as many as we had before,” says Eldon McPherson, President Bellaire Conservation Club, “Well, we’ve been getting brook trout, rainbow trout from the fish hatchery for a lot of years. And because of the funding, cuts from the federal government to the National Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Fish Hatchery in Elmira, where we get the fish, they can no longer have the rainbow trout available for us.”
The Bellaire Conservation Club has been in operation since the mid 1970’s and they were able to provide most of their fish for the ‘Kids Fish Day’ event through their Baby Brookies Program, which provided close to 1,000 fish a year.
The conservation club has fish for this year, but next year is questionable. With the help of community support the club has found a new private hatchery but will have to find funding for the fish.
“It’s just a matter of. We’re not sure if we can maintain the fish stocking for a long period. So, if we don’t have good fundraisers because we’re a small organization, you know, we have a lot of community support. So, we’re going to have to get more members. We need more members because to do this, we’re an older club, been here like 47 years. And we need more help and more ideas and younger members.”
McPherson, had turned to social media, in hopes that new ideas will keep the organization around.
“You know, my dilemma. I kind of ask for help on the social media because, you know, we all we’re a small organization, and our funds won’t last very long if we have to buy a fish every year. So, I got some really good ideas from the people that are friends of our club. For fundraising ideas, different ideas of how to do things out here.”
9&10 news, reached out to the Jordan River National Fish Hatchery and they were not able to comment about any funding cuts.
For more information on the Bellaire Conservation Club, click here.