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SDGFP legislative update: project approval for Blue Dog hatchery and property transfer in Spearfish Canyon cleared by Legislature
Summary
The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks secretary briefed the commission on a busy session: project approval for an $8 million Blue Dog Fish Hatchery renovation (House Bill 1047), transfer of a small hydro facility site in Spearfish Canyon to the Spearfish Foundation (House Bill 1052), and other bills including a riparian buffer appropriation and a prescribed-fire emergency clause.
Secretary Kevin Robling told the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission that the recent legislative session finished with several measures affecting the department.
Robling said House Bill 1047 gives the department project approval to renovate the Blue Dog Fish Hatchery, a five-year effort expected to begin in fiscal year 2027 with preliminary work this year. The department estimates the project will cost about $8,000,000 over the five-year timeline and plans to fund it with Dingell-Johnson excise tax receipts and an angler-focused fundraising campaign; Robling said no general funds were included in the bill.
Robling also outlined House Bill 1052, which allows the department to transfer about 3.75 acres that include the old Hydro facility building in Spearfish Canyon to the Spearfish Foundation, a 501(c)(3). The department described the structure as an intact historic hydroelectric generator building that does not fit the agency’s mission of managing public fish and park resources, and the transfer will let the foundation preserve it as a historic site.
He described other session outcomes the department supported or amended: House Bill 1001 (a prescribed-fire bill for state-owned lands along the Missouri River) carried an emergency clause to allow burning this spring where conditions permit; Senate Bill 222 moved out of committee with an $8,000,000 appropriation for a riparian buffer strip initiative that will be implemented through the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources with GF&P staff contributing landowner outreach; and an amendment creating an avian salvage permit expanded a narrowly worded federal permit so holders can salvage pheasant and other game bird eggs when they already hold the federal Fish and Wildlife Service salvage authorization.
Robling thanked staff and the legislative task force for coordinating the department’s role in hearings and implementation planning. He also listed bills the department supported that did not pass or were withdrawn and noted several other pieces of legislation that were still pending, including the state appropriations bill.
