DANGEROUS PRECEDENT BREWING AT NATIONAL BISON RANGE

The Bush politicos have created a stinking mess at the National Bison Range (NBR) near Moiese, Montana. In late 2004 and into 2005 the political appointees in the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) arranged for a major portion of the National Bison Range’s services and operations to be transferred to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) through an Annual Funding Agreement (AFA) between the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Tribes. The outcome was a disaster, resulting in the FWS Director Hall terminating the AFA on September 30, 2006 after it had been in operation at the refuge for about 18 months. But then Bush administration appointees at Interior, who oversee the FWS, overturned Hall's ruling 18 days later. Evidently, the politicos, such as James E. Cason, Associate Deputy Secretary of Interior, have accepted the CSKT explanations and have determined that a new AFA should be developed along the lines of the old one. Unbelievably, they are intending to give the CSKT even more responsibilities though the CSKT did not fulfill the terms of the first AFA.

The authority for AFAs is the Indian Self-Determination and Education Act. The original Bison Range AFA was negotiated with the Tribes by Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior for fish and wildlife and parks, Paul Hoffman. Mr. Hoffman did this in near secrecy and many of the provisions in the AFA were reportedly developed by CSKT and accepted by DOI political appointees over objections by National Bison Range and Regional FWS personnel. Furthermore, it has been implied that all the management of the National Bison Range and nearby Pablo National Wildlife Refuge, Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge, and several migratory bird wetland areas would eventually be removed from the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) and transferred to the CSKT.

Under the terms of the AFA, the CSKT was to perform activities in five categories including management, the biological program, the fire and maintenance programs and visitor services. After a year or so of operation, the FWS did an evaluation of the CSKT’s performance under the terms of the AFA and found that CSKT failed to meet the requirements of the AFA in a number of ways. FWS Director, H. Dale Hall, then made a gutsy decision to cancel the AFA. Hall had received a letter from FWS Regional Director, Mitch King, saying King had come to the conclusion that joint operation of the range would not work. King cited unacceptable work performed by the tribes, concern for visitor safety and a hostile work environment created by CSKT's involvement.

This conclusion didn’t surprise the few conservation organizations that had opposed the original AFA as unworkable. Generally, opposing Indian endeavors is not a popular activity of the national non-profit conservation organizations as the tribes have money, a powerful lobby in Washington, D. C. and I have heard, some hold board directorships with a few of the national non-profit conservation organizations. And there is always the fear of being labeled prejudiced if they oppose Indian tribes on anything. So, there has been very little concerned expressed about this AFA by the conservation community except for two or three groups like the Blue Goose Alliance, the National Wildlife Refuge Association and the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

Re-establishment of the AFA at the Bison Range will set a precedent and encourage attempts by other tribes for similar operational AFA arrangements at the other refuges eligible for inclusion in annual funding agreements (the current Federal Register list includes at least 31 National Wildlife Refuges containing more than 80% of the acreage of the Refuge System). Allowing this failure at NBR to become a prototype for more turnovers of refuges through the implementation of AFAs is a very dangerous precedent for the National Wildlife Refuge System, as it would destroy the System as it is now known. The finalizing of these types of AFAs by the Bush political appointees must be opposed.