Wytheville, Va. (WFXR) — Wytheville Community College (WCC) has been added to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) trout stocking program. The school’s pond received its first stocking of rainbow trout on March 17.

The college and the DWR have been working together for more than two years to get the school added to the program.

Though it is on campus and can be used by students, the public is also encouraged to fish the resource.

“We encourage the community, that’s part of our name and we encourage the community to become involved in everything that we do,” said Wytheville Community College Vice President of Workplace Development and Occupational Programs Perry Hughes. “We’re open for the community to come out and use them.”

Within hours of receiving its first trout, WCC administrators called it a success.

“At one point I think we had pushing 30 people down here with six or seven kids,” said WCC Facilities Manager Joseph Collins. “It made it real nice to have them down here.”

Stocking the pond at WCC is part of the DWR’s effort to expand fishing opportunities in the Commonwealth. It provides a resource that is close to a lot of people in the Wytheville region, and it is easily accessible. That makes it ideal for people fishing with children, or people with disabilities.

“The access here with this walking trail and this paved area gives us opportunities to provide access for people that aren’t able to get out and hike down into the mountain streams, said Sergeant Wes Billings of the Virginia Conservation Police. “It’s an opportunity we’ve been working on and just recently we’ve made it happen.”

The WCC pond is classified as a Category B water. That means it will receive five stockings every year between October and June. However, because it is late in the stocking season, it will only receive three stockings this year.