Greg Eckhardt waits to enter with the American flag and the Vermont State Game Warden Color Guard during the ceremonial reopening of the White River National Fish Hatchery in Bethel, Vt., on July 7, 2017. Eckhardt is also a supervisor with Vermont Fish and Wildlife. (Valley News - Geoff Hansen) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
Greg Eckhardt waits to enter with the American flag and the Vermont State Game Warden Color Guard during the ceremonial reopening of the White River National Fish Hatchery in Bethel, Vt., on July 7, 2017. Eckhardt is also a supervisor with Vermont Fish and Wildlife. (Valley News - Geoff Hansen) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

The White River National Fish Hatchery in Bethel held a ceremonial reopening on Friday. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., toured the reopened facility, which originally opened in 1984, but closed in 2011 after being damaged by Tropical Storm Irene. Leahy secured the funding to reopen the facility, one of a dozen federal fisheries facilities in the Northeast.