The public ought to support CSKT’s willingness to partner with FWSand shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the National Bison Range. MISSOULIAN EDITORIAL: Support tribes’ role in Bison Range 8/13/14 Management of the National Bison Range has been a point of contention for years. Now, a new proposal that would put most management back in the hands of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes is up for public comment – and the public ought to support this proposal. First, let’s start with some history. It is widely known that bison were once driven to the verge of extinction in the United States. In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt authorized funding to establish the National Bison Range in the center of the Flathead Reservation. Now, up to 500 bison roam the 18,500-acre range, which is run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. However, for the past 20 years the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have argued that management of the range ought to be turned over to the tribes. In 1976, Congress approved the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act with provisions that allow tribes to contract with federal entities on programs that affect tribal welfare. Despite CSKT’s insistence that this includes the National Bison Range on its reservation and buffalo in general, governmental delays and a heated public debate kept any agreement from being reached – until 2004. The agreement signed that year spelled out a partnership with the FWS that would turn over half of the range’s management to the CSKT. It came under fire almost immediately, and FWS canceled the contract in 2006. A new funding agreement reached in 2008 was challenged by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which worried that the partnership set a precedent for other National Wildlife Refuge System parks. A U.S. district court judge ruled that the agreement failed to follow proper procedure and rescinded it in 2010. FWS and CSKTthus entered negotiations yet again in November 2011, ultimately settling on a proposal that covers the entire National Bison Range Complex, including the range, and would retain three FWS employees: the refuge manager, deputy refuge manager and one law enforcement officer. Eight other positions would either be transferred to the tribes or reassigned. Also, a supervisory outdoor recreation planner employee for FWS would stay on, but the position would not be refilled should the current employee transfer or retire. The completion of a draft environmental assessment for the proposed agreement and its public release on Aug. 4 means that the CSKT are a step closer to finally assuming management of the National Bison Range Complex – management that includes the “biological, maintenance, public use and fire management programs,” according to the FWS announcement. But first, the public has 30 days in which to comment on the plan, which includes four other alternatives. Three of these call for less tribal involvement in the management of the range, and one of them is a “no action” alternative that would exclude the tribes from management altogether. That’s a very poor alternative indeed. The public ought to support CSKT’s willingness to partner with FWSand shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the National Bison Range. Bison have long played an important role in the tribes’ culture and history, and the range itself physically occupies the heart of the Flathead Reservation. The tribes ought to play a direct role in the management of this national treasure.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 17:49:13 +0000
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