For 75 years Leavenworth National Fisheries Complex has produced salmon that are vital to the Pacific Northwest way of life. The public is invited to celebrate the facility’s history and engage in many salmon-centered activities at the 25th annual Wenatchee River Salmon Festival, held September 17-19 this year.

Authorized in 1937 and built from 1939-1940 to mitigate for Columbia River dams, Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery (NFH) was the largest salmon hatchery in the world at the time it was built. Entiat and Winthrop National Fish Hatcheries opened in 1941 and 1942, creating a complex of hatcheries working together to produce future generations of fish for future generations of people.

In 1998, Leavenworth NFH was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places. Visitors today can see the nursery, adult holding ponds, fish ladder, raceways, rearing ponds, and other features of an active hatchery, still operating from the original buildings.

Leavenworth NFH currently raises 1.2 million juvenile spring Chinook salmon every year, releasing them into Icicle Creek. Entiat NFH raises 4000,000 summer Chinook salmon. Winthrop NFH raises 400,000 spring Chinook salmon, 200,000 steelhead, and 250,000 coho in cooperation with the Yakama Nation.

“Over the past 75 years our hatcheries have produced millions of salmon and steelhead, providing fishing opportunities for thousands of people throughout the Columbia River basin,” said Complex Manager Dave Irving. “Come help us celebrate our past 75 years of making salmon and look forward to the next 75 years in beautiful Leavenworth, Washington!”