Bison Range staffing remains unresolved
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MOEISE — The dust has settled after the annual bison roundup, but that’s about all that’s settled at the National Bison Range after a federal judge threw out a funding agreement between the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
The Sept. 28 ruling by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly cost 13 CSKT employees their jobs at the Bison Range, where they filled two-thirds of staff positions, including a deputy refuge manager, wildlife biologists and maintenance personnel. And the decision came just six days before the roundup, an annual checkup of the Range’s 400 bison, was scheduled to begin.
But what could’ve been a week of chaos ended up running smoothly, as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved the emergency hire of six of the tribal employees who lost their jobs.
“We made it through (the roundup), and it seemed to go well,” said Pat Jamieson, the Range’s outdoor recreation planner.
About a dozen other CSKT workers also got permission to leave their normal jobs and volunteer at the roundup, spokesman for the tribes Rob McDonald said.
“The main concern for CSKT was the safety of the animals and the resources at the Bison Range,” he said. “In black-and-white, the Service said, ‘We need (the tribes’) help to make it happen,' and we’re happy to help.”
The temporary appointments ended with the roundup, and with the tourist season winding down and winter approaching, operations at the Bison Range have also slowed. But it’s anyone’s guess how the open staff positions will be handled.
“We have no idea what’s gonna be happening with staffing here,” Jamieson said.
Refuge Manager Jeff King was out of town until Tuesday, and Jamieson said he’s still waiting to meet with FWS officials to discuss plans for re-staffing.
Tribal Council is also in a waiting stage, as CSKT’s lawyers decide how to proceed, McDonald said.
“I don’t know what action they’re taking, but they’re working toward an action,” he said.
Meanwhile, scenic drives at the Bison Range remain open —Red Sleep closes Oct. 23 — with plenty of opportunity left for fall wildlife viewing. The elk are quieting down, Jamieson said, but “deer are starting to be more active … you just never know (what you might see).”
Kolar-Kotelly’s ruling, which came in response to a Dec. 2008 lawsuit filed by a Washington, D.C.,-based group called Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, cited a violation of the National Environmental Policy Act in the agreement between the tribes and the Department of the Interior. McDonald noted that the judge’s decision was based solely on an environmental procedural rule that wasn’t properly addressed in the Annual Funding Agreement.
When a previous AFA was rescinded in 2006, the FWS cited failures by CSKT to meet proper bison management standards and to adequately maintain vehicles, equipment and property, but Kollar-Kotelly made no mention of CSKT job performances in her decision.
“The tribes were not called deficient in this,” McDonald said.
