Feds reverse on bison management

By MARY CLARE JALONICK
Associated Press writer Monday, January 01, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Federal wildlife managers have reversed their decision to cut off tribal involvement in management of the National Bison Range.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service abruptly canceled an interim plan that had allowed the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes a role in managing the range, on tribal land in northwestern Montana.. The department said Friday that it will re-establish that relationship in January, under certain conditions.

The agreement was announced by Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dale Hall and Associate Deputy Interior Secretary Jim Cason. The three said they have agreed to draft a five-year range operations plan and retain an ombudsman to work at the range to assist in resolving any problems with range management.

The Interior Department statement also said a tribal proposal seeking full management of the 19,000-acre bison range would be "suspended at this time."

That proposal came just months after release of a performance report that indicated some of the work for which the tribes were responsible was not done.

Tribal chairman James Steele Jr. said Friday that members were surprised and pleased about the department's reversal. He said the tribe was taking care of its responsibilities on the range and there has been a "continual pattern of misinformation and false allegations" about tribal activity there.

The new decision means "somewhere along the line someone was actually listening to our concerns," he said.

"We had some serious concerns with the allegations and the reasons they had used to negate this agreement," Steele said.

A fax sent to the tribes Dec. 11 told them to "immediately cease performing all activities" at the bison range and withdraw all employees from the site. The fax said the tribes had failed to perform work properly and had created a hostile and intimidating work environment.

The joint management plan has been controversial from the start.

Environmentalists worried tribal management could lead to reduced stewardship. And earlier this year, federal employees at the range complained of mistreatment.

Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a Washington interest group that lobbies for environmental causes, said he thought the agency had "cast a rare profile in courage" when it cut off the tribe's responsibilities. He said the decision to re-establish the relationship was a political move.

"This is all about politics, and politics don't get the fences repaired," he said.

The Salish-Kootenai maintain that they should manage the land to which they have historical ties, and that they are best prepared to tell visitors about the bison and American Indians. The range lies within the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Two years ago, the tribes and the federal agency reached an interim agreement that allowed the tribes to take on some management responsibilities at the federal bison range.

The agreement expired at the end of September, but the two governments had agreed to continue honoring it while anticipating negotiations aimed at producing a permanent management plan.