The next scheduled meeting of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission (TWRC) will be October 29-30, 2009, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA).
   Committee meetings will begin at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, and the Commission Meeting starting on Friday, Oct. 30 at 9:00 a.m.  The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn Cedar Bluff in Knoxville.
   The main agenda item is the 2010 sport fishing regulations.  Any changes made to fishing regulations will take affect on March 1, 2010.
   Media and the public are invited to attend TWRC meetings.
ALL FIVE HUNTERS HARVEST ELK DURING HISTORIC HUNT
The first-ever managed elk hunt in Tennessee has come to a close on just its second day as the fifth hunter, Franklin resident Tami Miller, harvested her elk Tuesday afternoon at the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area.
Miller etched her name into the record book with four other sportsmen who had harvests on the opening day, Monday. Miller’s elk was a 5×6 (5 antler points on one side, 6 on the other).  (Animal not weighed.)
Charles “Chuck” Flynn from the Rockford community in Blount County was confirmed as the first person to legally harvest an elk in Tennessee in almost 150 years. The life-long sportsman harvested a 7X6 elk shortly after 7:30 a.m. (EDT) that field dressed 520 pounds.
The other three successful hunters harvested elk as follows:
•Craig Gardner of Parrottsville – 6X7 elk, field dressed 620 lbs.
•Ronald Woodard of Oak Ridge – 6X6 elk, field dressed 720 lbs.
•Jeff Moses of Cleveland – 6X6 elk, quartered out, no weight taken.
The five hunters were participating in the first hunt since TWRA began elk reintroduction to the state in December 2000. Each hunter was allowed to harvest one bull elk during this special season (Oct. 19-23). The last documentation of an elk harvest in Tennessee came from Obion County in 1865.
Each hunter was drawn for a separate hunt compartment, approximately 8,000 acres in size.  All hunt compartments were located on the North Cumberland WMA west of I-75.
ELIZABETHTON FISH HATCHERY PROJECT ON TRACK
Recent completion of the land acquisition phase of the proposed new fish hatchery complex in Elizabethton, Tenn., has allowed the project to move forward, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA).  
The State Building Commission has approved funding to proceed to the next step of the State’s Capital Project construction process. This step includes soliciting bids to contract with a designer to complete detailed architectural plans. Once these plans are completed, the actual construction phase of the hatchery can begin.
John Gregory, TWRA's Regional Manager for the area stated, “Our expectation is that this next phase of the project can be bid out and started within a year’s time.”
   In the interim, TWRA continues to work with a variety of partners to complete the funding for the project using the recently completed conceptual drawings.
   The planned fish hatchery will be located at the previous site of the Bemburg Industries water treatment plant.  It will be adjacent to the Watauga River, one of Tennessee’s premier trout fisheries.  
“This will be our largest facility and eventually replace older hatcheries as they run out of water,” said Bill Reeves TWRA chief of fisheries.  
Fish produced at the new hatchery will benefit fishing opportunities across the eastern half of Tennessee.
Future plans include a production facility for threatened and endangered fish species.

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