FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  May 4, 2007                                           
CONTACT:  Ronette Rumpca, (605) 773-6011; ronette.rumpca@state.sd.us

Booth Historic Fish Hatchery program coming to Cultural Heritage Center

PIERRE, SD – The South Dakota State Historical Society will host its third program focusing on “South Dakota Places” on Sunday, May 6. D.C. Booth curator Randi Sue Smith will discuss the D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery. The free program will be at 2 pm in the Education Room of the Cultural Heritage Center. 

Established in 1896, the D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery, formerly Spearfish National Fish Hatchery, is one of the oldest operating hatcheries in the country. The hatchery was built to establish and stock trout in the Black Hills. After a successful fish production history, the hatchery ceased operations in the mid-1980s and reopened as a living fishery museum.

Run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the hatchery preserves and interprets the history and technology of fish culture. The facility still rears trout for the Black Hills through a cooperative effort with the state. The museum facility includes the historic 1899 Hatchery Building, the Booth House, and a replica fish railroad car exhibit. In 1989, a new museum storage building, public restrooms, concessions, and underwater fish viewing area were added to the hatchery grounds. Over 145,000 visitors go to the D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery every year.

The other two programs on South Dakota Places held this spring by the historical society included a presentation on The Mammoth Site of Hot Springs April 22 and a program on Historic Fort Sisseton on April 29.

“South Dakota Places” is the topic for the State Historical Society’s newest education kit. The kit covers a variety of places that make South Dakota unique, such as Mt. Rushmore, the Corn Palace, De Smet (the “Little Town on the Prairie”) and the Badlands.

The kit also contains information about national wildlife refuges and grasslands, the glacial lakes, the Missouri River, and animal habitats. Hands-on items in the kit include a replica mammoth tooth, a petrified wood sample, a black-footed ferret figurine, a model of Crazy Horse Memorial, and over 40 photographs. Using the kit, students can use mapping and math skills to plan a road trip, compare different types of maps, identify SD symbols, and create a flour fish print.

Schools in Rosholt, Timber Lake, Veblen, Wilmot and Aberdeen have scheduled the kit for their classrooms this spring. There are also 10 other education kits on a variety of topics available from the historical society. Cost for the kits is $20 for a two-week rental, plus return mailing costs. To learn more about the education kits or to schedule a kit, contact Ronette Rumpca, curator of interpretation, at (605) 773-6011, or e-mail ronette.rumpca@state.sd.us.

The museum in the Cultural Heritage Center is open 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1-4:30 p.m. on Sundays and most holidays. Call (605) 773-3458 for more information, or visit www.sdhistory.org.