The new director of the Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery hopes to reach beyond the city limits and create regional interest in the local treasure.

“It needs to be more visible,” said Jane Kuechle, who was named the new executive director late May. “I think there are opportunities to expand the reach beyond the Issaquah community.”

FISH provides educational programming and materials for the Issaquah Hatchery.

The goal would not only to draw visitors from throughout the area, but also to partner with other non-profits interested in protecting the watershed, she said.

She also hopes to focus on long-term planning and making the organization more sustainable.

Kuechle came to FISH with little first-hand knowledge of the organization. She does have over 14 years of experience organizing non-profits.

She was a campaign manager at King County United Way, and she organized fundraising and marketing for AtWork!, which has an Issaquah location.

She retired to do some part-time consulting work with her own business, when she heard about the FISH opening through a newspaper story.

She decided she want to keep her hand in local non-profit work, and applied for the part-time position, she said. “It sounded like a lot of fun.”