Tribes withdraw Bison Range appeal
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal court last week granted a joint motion filed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes dismissing their appeals of a Sept. 28 court decision that rescinded an annual funding agreement for the National Bison Range in Moiese.
The Service and the Tribes jointly moved to dismiss the appeals “based on their mutual decision that it was not in the best interests of the (Bison Range) to pursue protracted litigation,” according to a joint news release from the two groups. “Instead, the Service and CSKT have opted to focus on jointly working toward continuing the federal-tribal partnership at the NBRC.”
In September, a federal judge threw out an annual funding agreement between the U.S. Department of the Interior and CSKT, who shared management of the Bison Range. The judge’s ruling said that an environmental procedural rule wasn’t properly addressed in the agreement, and 15 or 16 CSKT workers lost their jobs at the Bison Range as a result of the ruling. Since then, the range has been run by a skeleton crew, and project manager Jeff King is still awaiting permanent staffing decisions by FWS.
“We decided a long, drawn-out court battle was not the best way to protect the Bison Range resources,” CSKT chairman Bud Moran said in a statement last week. “We look forward to continuing our relationship with our federal partners.”
“The Service wants to continue to work in partnership with CSKT,” refuge supervisor Dean Rundle added. “We agree with Chairman Moran that the wildlife and other natural and cultural resources of the National Bison Range are the highest priority for both parties. We will continue to work with CSKT in government-to-government consultation to develop and sustain a long-term partnership at the National Bison range.”
