Draft Bison Range bill fails to address county impact
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Several Missoulian articles have been written recently related to a potential transfer of the National Bison Range from the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Last week, a draft bill entitled the “National Bison Range Transfer and Restoration Act of 2016,” was released that provided details of the transfer. The draft bill clearly stated what the CSKT would receive in the deal; all the lands of the NBR, the bison herd, buildings, equipment and vehicles, but the bill, by omission, fails to address several important impacts any transfer would have on our county.
In April of 2016, Lake County received notice that for Fiscal Year 2014 the county would get a payment of $37,218 from the Department of the Interior from the National Wildlife Refuge Fund in lieu of property taxes on NBR lands. This payment is made annually to Lake County and typically runs two fiscal years behind. The bill would provide partial payments to Lake County to mitigate the funding loss for five years. If the 2014 funding level was to remain in place, the total revenue loss to the county in 10 years would be about $250,000. This proposal in the draft is a feeble attempt to replace lost revenue and an insult to Lake County taxpayers.
The draft contains no language outlining a plan for management of the three other wildlife refuges that are currently managed by USFWS employees headquartered at the Bison Range Complex. Although it appears that the Ninepipes, Pablo and Swan River refuges are not part of the land transfer, why was management of those areas not addressed? A transition plan or severance package for current USFWS employees impacted by the transfer is not in the bill.
No mention is made of the $26 million that the Department of the Interior paid to Tribal members in 1972 in a settlement agreement that provided fair compensation for the land that was taken from the Tribe for creation of the NBR in 1908. Surely, it cannot be assumed that the Tribe will get to keep their payment for the land, and then also take ownership of the NBR lands under the transfer. A plan for repayment must be included in any legislation.
The bill also carries no guarantee that the Tribe will maintain the current NBR funding level of between $750,000 and $1 million dollars annually. A CSKT spokesman told the Missoulian that, “All operating costs would fall upon the tribes.” Nothing in the bill holds the Tribe accountable for adequate funding of the NBR. Where on the list of Tribal funding priorities would the range fall?
Martha Williams, a law professor at the University of Montana, told the Missoulian in February of this year when news of the possible transfer broke that, “legislation leading to a transfer would be groundbreaking.” She also stated that, “there are mechanisms the Department of Interior, as trustee, can use to make sure the purposes of the Bison Range carry through in a transfer. You can attach strings.”
If the draft legislation is any indicator of what the final product will look like, there will be no strings attached.
