Governor Evers and DNR Secretary Hyun visit Les Voigt Fish Hatchery in Bayfield
- Friends of RD Pike Building
- Apr 25
- 2 min read
Written by: Todd P. Berg
Governor Tony Evers and Secretary of the DNR Karen Hyun, visited Bayfield on Monday, April 21st which included meetings at the Les Voigt State Fish Hatchery on Highway 13 just south of Bayfield. The visit was scheduled during Earth week festivities, celebrating the vibrant and abundant marine natural resources found locally and throughout Wisconsin.
During the visit, the officials took a tour of the storied hatchery with current staff. They were briefed on the important fish culturing and stocking work done by hatchery personnel for the benefit of everyone who enjoys Lake Superior, and for thousands of anglers who fish inland lakes in Wisconsin as well. The hatchery rears hundreds of thousands of fish annually, including brown trout and Lake Trout destined for release throughout the area, from Superior to the west, all the way east to the Wisconsin/Michigan state line in Saxon Harbor.
The economic impact of fisheries is mammoth. Anglers annually fish 22 million days in Wisconsin, generating over $2.3 billion of economic activity and supporting over 26,200 jobs in the state. Nearly 70 million fish are harvested in Wisconsin yearly, with more than 20 million of those taken home for consumption. Fisheries remain a vital part of the economic and recreational engine in Wisconsin.
During their visit, the Governor and Secretary also toured the R.D. Pike Building located on the property and met with directors of the Friends of the R.D. Pike Building, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
They discussed the ongoing progress of their public/private partnership, the historical finds regarding the Pike Building and the groups long-term plans for restoration and renovation of the facility.
Updates were provided to the officials on plans and progress of the group’s mission to reawaken history, with the goal of advancing the public’s historical appreciation, education and enjoyment of the iconic space.
Constructed in only three months in 1897 for the sum of $10,000, the building served as hatchery headquarters, a personal residence for various hatchery Superintendents and their families, and as a greeting area for over six decades through the 1960’s.
The building was added to the National Historic Register in 1981. While the newer Les Voigt hatchery was built adjacent in 1971, the Pike Building hatchery still raises tens of thousands of fish to this day! Several specific strains of Lake Trout, including Seneca, Black Oak and Trout Lake varieties are hatched and reared exclusively in the old building’s hatchery wing, and then stocked in several inland lakes in Wisconsin, including Trout Lake, Green Lake and Geneva Lake among others.
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