With rising caviar prices, caviar connoisseurs found a cheaper substitute in paddlefish caviar.As the demand for paddlefish caviar increased, commercial fishers began putting pressure on paddlefish in the South.The commercial fishing pressure, combined with poaching, forced closure of several state fisheries.Under these circumstances, federal wildlife officials feared that promoting trade in paddlefish products would only make it that much harder for them to protect the generally declining resource.Getting an exception to allow trade in Montana paddlefish eggs was made somewhat easier by three factors.First, the change offered no financial incentive for fishers to increase their fishing efforts because the chamber of commerce was asking them to donate, not sell, their roe to the nonprofit organization.Second, Montana had in place a regulated sport fishery that already lent itself to monitoring and controlling fishing pressure.Fishers must purchase tags to fish for paddlefish and must affix a tag to each fish caught.At the time the program began, each fisher was limited to two tags per season.The use of tags allowed wildlife officials to track closely the number of paddlefish taken.By requiring that the chamber of commerce take eggs only from tagged fish, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks could limit the amount of caviar marketed.Third, the Montana paddlefish fishery was under no threat of decline.Against this backdrop state wildlife officials and state legislators were convinced Montana’s paddlefish population would not be jeopardized by the marketing scheme proposed by the Glendive Chamber of Commerce.Included in the legislation was a requirement, happily agreed to by the Glendive chamber, that half the net proceeds from egg sales be returned to the state for paddlefish research and management.The ink on the new law had barely dried when the chamber of commerce began preparing for the upcoming 1990 spring fishing season.They brought in a Russian caviar expert to help transform an abandoned local dairy into a processing plant, where the eggs could be soaked in brine.Twelve workers were hired to clean fish, and a wholesale distributer was found for the caviar.In 1990, its first season of operation, workers cleaned 1,600 paddlefish and processed over 4,000 pounds of roe.High water made 1991 the program’s most lucrative year, with 3,000 paddlefish cleaned and over 10,000 pounds of roe processed.Of that amount, the project has given $220,000 in grants to 117 community projects in twelve eastern Montana counties for cultural, historical, and recreational projects and another $260,000 to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks for paddlefish research and management.Not bad for a small cowboy town in eastern Montana.In 1993, both Harvard University and the Ford Foundation recognized their caviar project as one of the most innovative programs in the United States.That same year, a group of enterprising individuals in North Dakota, the state that shares the Yellowstone River’s paddlefish with Montana, decided it would like to emulate the success of Glendive.The Williston Chamber of Commerce and the Friends of Fort Union Trading Post combined efforts to launch Gold Star Caviar, an operation modeled after the Clendive’s project.A portion of the net proceeds from caviar sales are paid to North Dakota’s Game and Fish Department for research, public information on paddlefish, and enforcement of fishing regulations.In its first year of operation, Cold Star netted $14,000 from the sale of paddlefish caviar.Not only do these two projects pay for baseball parks, museums, and libraries in towns strapped for money, they are helping sustain Yellowstone River paddlefish.With half of the profits invested in paddlefish management, state wildlife officials can conduct research to understand the needs of this prehistoric fish, better regulate fishing pressure, and monitor water quality and spawning habitat.The paddlefish entrepreneurs have transformed waste into wealth in more ways than one.A River Runs By ItLand development in Boise, Idaho, offers an example of how profits from housing can be linked to stream reclamation.O’Neill recognized the growing demand for natural amenities in an urban setting and responded by building communities for people as well as fish.Among his early achievements was a project that revitalized a river and created one of the nation’s first urban spawning streams for trout.O’Neill recognized that visually pleasing and biologically productive surroundings are assets that add to property values.Most of the property was originally land heavily grazed by livestock.From the project’s beginnings in 1977, O’Neill emphasized enhancing the property’s natural amenities to increase the value of homes.’River Run has been designed and built with a sensitivity to the natural environment found here.Located on the east side of Boise, the development spans 120 acres along the Boise River.The channel was designed and built by the Army Corps of Engineers for flood control, not beauty.To transform this ugly flood control channel, O’Neill needed an additional source of water.At the time, River Run’s other waterways were receiving about twenty cubic feet per second of water from Loggers Creek, a small tributary of the Boise River.This source was not enough to keep water flowing throughout the summer in both the existing waterways in River Run and the flood control channel.O’Neill estimated he needed ten cubic feet per second from the Boise River to ensure continuous flow in the channel.By his calculations that was less than 6 percent of the existing flow.The Boise River flows out of the mountains and through the city.It is a clear, cold river that offers a multitude of wildlife habitats along its shores, as well as numerous recreational opportunities for residents.The water quality is good, and the river provides an opportunity to catch rainbow and brown trout within city limits, much to the delight of local fishermen.The only problem with the river was that it lacked natural trout spawning habitat and therefore required annual restocking by the fish and game department to sustain the fishery.In the fall of 1982, O’Neill applied for a water right to divert the ten cubic feet per second from the Boise River into the flood control channel.Concerned that the diversion might further reduce the stream’s spawning potential, however, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game protested the diversion, arguing that it would reduce to below the minimum the streamflow needed to maintain trout populations in the river.O’Neill, himself an avid trout fisherman, understood the officials’ concerns, but believed there was potential to make a substantial improvement.This process, however, had been severely limited when the natural flow of the Boise was regulated by Lucky Peak Dam, eight miles upstream from River Run.The spawning beds that existed before the dam was built had long since been washed downstream or been silted over as the dam held back the replacement gravel.O’Neill hired Timberline to study the feasibility and costs of converting the flood control channel into a trout spawning stream.The study cost O’Neill $15,000, an investment that turned out to be worth every penny.Timberline concluded that with appropriate modifications the channel could easily be turned into a productive stream.The company also recommended modifications to Lake Heron and the other waterways in the River Run development.At a cost of $30,000 for modifying the flood control channel, the investment was substantial, but O’Neill decided to push ahead with the project.Before he could break any ground, however, he had to overcome regulatory hurdles on several levels.Army Corps of Engineers.Fortunately, after O’Neill presented his new plan for using additional water to create trout habitat, Idaho wildlife officials dropped their objection to the water right application.They became strong supporters of O’Neill’s project and eventually helped him get necessary approvals from the other agencies.The flood control channel was reshaped using concrete and log structures to create a meandering flow with pools, riffles, and spawning beds.Similar modifications were made to other streams in the River Run system.Heron Lake was deepened.In addition, over two miles of new streams were created throughout the residential complex.Finally, to help trout from the Boise River enter the River Run system, one fish ladder was constructed at the irrigation gate of Loggers Creek and another at the outflow from Heron Lake.But once the natural system began to mature, the amenities became more visible, and the trout began to flourish.According to state biologist Scott Grunder, a 1991 electroshock survey of the channel found many trout.Says Grunder, ’’It’s obvious that trout are thriving in the channel now.’ 7Since completing River Run, O’Neill has developed four other projects is working on a fifth in McCall, Idaho.Each of the projects has his signaturebeautiful natural surroundings and enhanced habitat for fish and wildlife.The team createda system of ponds, streams, and wetlands, lined with trees, shrubs, and meadow grasses.In the years to come, as the vegetation matures, this new riparian zone will function as a living area for wildlife and provide shade and stream bank stability for fish.Fish will use this corridor on spawning runs from the Big Wood River, something the irrigation network had blocked.8