Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
Region 4
Stream Management
Background
Buffalo Springs Hatchery
Buffalo Springs Trout Hatchery is located approximately two miles north of the Holston River and about five miles to the west of Cherokee Dam, in Grainger County near Rutledge, Tennessee.
The facility was constructed between 1970 and 1976 (the building was completed in 1970 and the raceways in 1976) and has subsequently served as an intensive trout production facility for the state. Buffalo Springs is Region IV’s newest, and only “true” trout hatchery (other facilities are actually trout rearing stations). It is adjacent to the Buffalo Springs Wildlife Management Area and is situated on a 20-acre site of which 10 acres have been developed. The facility consists of an artesian spring water supply (Buffalo Spring), 24 outdoor concrete raceways, a hatchery building with 23 concrete raceways and three vertical flow through tray incubators, a service building for vehicle and bagged fish feed storage, and a manager’s residence.
The mailing address for the facility is:
Buffalo Springs Trout Hatchery
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
275 Hatchery Lane
Rutledge, TN 37861
Telephone: (865) 828-5263
Four full-time employees operate the facility:
Duane Oyer, Hatchery Manager Ricky Bean, Tech. II
Greg McGinnis, Tech. IITim Williams, Tech. I Todd Weaver, Tech. I
Average annual production during 1999-2003 was 83,343 pounds of trout at an average expenditure of $238,746 per year ($2.86 per pound). In 2004, 500,662 trout weighing 84,568 pounds were reared and stocked from Buffalo Springs Hatchery. Ninety percent of these (448,987) were rainbow trout and 51,675 (10%) were brook trout. Buffalo Springs typically supplies trout for three reservoirs (Chilhowee, South Holston, and Watauga), four tailwaters (Norris, Cherokee, Wilbur, and South Holston), and about 15 east Tennessee streams.
