Paul Boehlke-KTVB

Redfish Lake near Stanley.

BOISE -- Gov. Butch Otter is taking part in two events marking one of the biggest sockeye salmon runs in the state in decades.

Otter is expected to join Idaho Fish and Game Director Cal Groen Tuesday in releasing more than 30 adult sockeye into Redfish Lake to spawn naturally.

Later in the day, Otter is scheduled to celebrate the opening of a new state-of-the-art sockeye spawning center at the Eagle Fish Hatchery.

The new facility is designed to double the capacity of the captive breeding program dedicated to sockeye recovery.

So far this season, state fisheries biologists say more than 500 of the endangered salmon have returned to the central Idaho hatchery near Salmon, the biggest run in more than two decades.