“When are you going to stock Lake Van?"

That is a question Southwestern Native Aquatic Resource and Recovery Center Director Wade Wilson says he often gets from locals who are seemingly unaware of the center's actual mission, which is to promote the recovery and survival of endangered and threatened aquatic species for the federal government.

The center was started in 1931, Wilson said, when the federal government bought the 640-acre property from the state of New Mexico.

“At that time they were doing warm water culture, bass, catfish, sport fish,” Wilson said.

In 1974, following the prior year's passage of the Endangered Species Act, the center transitioned to focus on threatened and endangered species, he said. One of center's current missions is housing and maintaining refuge popula

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