By Jason Stuart
Ranger-Review Staff Writer
The future of the Yellowstone Caviar program, which uses proceeds from the sale of paddlefish roe to fund grants for Eastern Montana communities, will be decided this legislative session.
The paddlefish caviar program was implemented by a bill passed by the 1998 Montana Legislature, but the clock is running out on it. The 1998 law set 2018 as the “sunset” of the program, so for it to continue beyond next year, the Legislature must take action this session.
Local state Sen. Steve Hinebauch has introduced a bill, SB 84, which would extend the paddlefish caviar program another 10 years. That bill has already cleared committee. The Senate Fish and Game Committee held their hearing on the bill last Thursday, approving it out of committee by an 11-0 vote.
“The committee hearing went real well, I thought,” Hinebauch said.
Local resident Pat Mischel traveled to Helena to testify for the bill along with Glendive Chamber of Commerce Director Christine Whitlatch. Like Hinebauch, Mischel said the hearing went exceptionally well.
“The committee chair and all the members were very receptive to the testimony,” Mischel said, adding praise for Whitlatch’s performance before the committee as well.
However, while legislators are apparently very receptive to extending the program another 10 years, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is less so.
FWP, for their part, has their own bill introduced in the House, carried by Rep. Virginia Court, a Billings Democrat. That bill, HB 69, would extend the paddlefish caviar program by only two years. That bill is currently assigned to the House Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee but has not yet received a hearing.
FWP officials were at the hearing for Hinebauch’s bill to testify against it. Hinebauch said FWP even went so far as to threaten a veto of his bill by Gov. Steve Bullock should it pass the Legislature.
“I don’t know why, for sure, but they’re resisting us,” Hinebauch said.
Mischel said FWP officials’ concerns about extending the paddlefish caviar program more than two years centered around the uncertainty of whether or not the proposed fish bypass channel and new weir will be built at Intake.
“The only reason (FWP) came out in opposition ... they wanted the two-year extension because they’re uncertain about the effects the bypass will have on paddlefish spawning,” Mischel said.
Hinebauch said concerns about the proposed bypass channel at Intake – currently tied up in federal court – are not, in his mind, a valid reason to not extend the paddlefish caviar program more than two years.
“If the fish bypass gets done in two years, I’ll eat my hat,” he said.
Mischel noted that beyond concerns about what the fish bypass channel might do if built, FWP fisheries managers also expressed concerns at the hearing about researchwhich suggests the bulk of the current paddlefish breeding population are 20-year-old females, whereas ideally, the breeding population would be dominated by 10-year-old females, which they said raises concerns about the sustainability of the paddlefish fishery.
However, at the committee hearing, Mischel said Sen. Mike Phillips, D-Bozeman, “did a good job of separating” the existence of the paddlefish caviar program from concerns about the sustainability of the paddlefish population by pointing out that the program can only exist as long as FWP issues harvest tags for paddlefish in the Yellowstone River, so if the agency reaches a point where it determines it cannot allow a paddlefish harvest on the Yellowstone the caviar program would cease whether it was on the books or not.
In fact, following the hearing, Hinebauch said he thinks he has FWP “handled on that” and doesn’t think he will get too much more opposition out of the agency to extending the program at least 10 more years.
And it could be more. Both Mischel and Hinebauch said they believe there is strong, bipartisan support building to make the paddlefish caviar program a permanent fixture with no end date.
“I think just about everybody on the (Fish and Game) committee wants to get rid of the sunset,” Hinebauch said.
“I think there’s a good possibility on the floor to get rid of the sunset completely,” Mischel added.
Hinebauch closed by noting that few things that state government does are more of a slam dunk win for everybody than the paddlefish caviar program, saying that not only does it benefit Eastern Montana communities, but it doesn’t cost the state a dime, and in fact adds about $34,000 each year into the state’s special revenue fund.
“It’s a great program, and everybody’s really impressed with the program,” he said.
According to Whitlatch, in its 20-year existence, the Yellowstone Caviar program has given out $938,000 in grants to over 200 non-profit organizations across 15 Eastern Montana counties. Paddlefish grants may be awarded to non-profit organizations to support historic preservation, cultural enhancement, community events or FWP-sponsored programs.
In 2016, $53,000 in paddlefish grants were awarded. Examples include to the Range Riders Museum in Miles City for new flooring, to the Miles City youth hockey program, to the Eastern Montana Concert Association and to the Town of Richey for its centennial celebration.
Reach Jason Stuart at rrreporter@rangerreview.com.