INTERIOR DIRECTS BISON RANGE TO BE HANDED OVER TO TRIBE

[nosmokes]

This is not the time and this is not the agreement that should be enacted
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original-peer

For Immediate Release: December 5, 2007
Contact: Carol Goldberg [phone]

INTERIOR DIRECTS BISON RANGE TO BE HANDED OVER TO TRIBE

— Inspector General Report Describes High-Level Political Machinations

Washington, DC — Top officials at the U.S. Interior Department ordered subordinates to arrange the transfer of all jobs and management of the National Bison Range in Montana to a local tribe, according to an agency report released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Under the proposed agreement, National Bison Range, called the crown jewel of the National Wildlife Refuge System, would be the first such unit in the country to be transferred in its entirety to a tribal government.

This revelation comes within a November 20, 2007 Interior Office of Inspector General (OIG) Report of Investigation. The report looks at aspects of the controversial 2005 agreement with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) to take over half the Bison Range jobs. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service terminated that agreement in late 2006 citing non-performance and harassment of refuge staff.

The OIG report concludes that the Interior Department “did exert considerable and unusual influence directing FWS to enter into the annual funding agreement with the tribe but such influence was neither improper nor illegal.” The OIG report, which PEER obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, recounts how –

* Top Interior officials directed the Fish & Wildlife Service to increase the number of tribal positions on the refuge, leading to the CSKT assuming complete management control in 2010;
* Former Deputy Secretary Steven Griles, now imprisoned in connection with the Jack Abramoff lobbyist scandal, told the then FWS Deputy Director that “it was important to treat the CSKT right in this issue and that the CSKT was one of the tribe that had not supported Cobell”— the multi-billion class action suit to force an accounting of Indian trust funds by Interior; and
* Interior repeatedly overrode FWS recommendations and allowed termination only after complaints of harassment by refuge staff and an assault on the refuge manager by the CSKT tribal chairman.

Currently, Interior is pursuing a new funding agreement with the CSKT. As the OIG report notes, the negotiations have been slowed by the tribe’s insistence on total management control over the refuge.

“Whatever happens at National Bison Range will be purely about politics with the interests of wildlife having precious little to do with the outcome,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, pointing out that 57 national parks and 18 other wildlife refuges are eligible for similar tribal transfers under Interior’s present stance. “One unresolved question is how the federal government enforces standards once the refuge is under the control of a tribal government.”

The OIG report does examine reports by citizens who reported retaliation by the CSKT after their names and public comments about the agreement were released by Interior to the tribe. The OIG also alludes to “’racial’ tension on both sides of the issue.”

“Ironically, the Inspector General never explored what went wrong with the earlier ill-fated Bison Range agreement or how it should be fixed,” Ruch added. “As a result, the next funding agreement for the Bison Range may blow apart like the last one did.”

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complete release including links to related sources here

[razors edge]

1. This is their land, right?

Indigenous, sovereigns, treaties and all that rings a bell.

If they screw it up they have no one to blame but themselves, and the US gov doesn't have the best overall track record on any environmental issue to go getting holier than though with anyone.

Give the tribe the millions we owe them and leave them alone for a change, it just might work out best for all involved.

[nosmokes]

2. Oh, IT's not that I have a problem w/ seeing it in Indian hands,

but I believe the Tribes are being set up for failure and will have to resort to exploiting the Range to get enough cash to manage it even half assed correctly.Because I don't believe they will ever see substantial amounts of the many millions of that trust fund money. And while the FWS could benefit from taxes collected by area businesses, the Tribes are limited to to what they can get either on the Range or on the Rez. And I think this is happening *now* because the current Tribal leadership is amenable to the extractive industries coming in and searching for oil/gas/minerals. I just don't trust this happening right now.I have absolutely no reason to believe that Bushco is doing something good for the environment or the Indians w/o him and his coming out way ahead. Like everything else he's done since he stole office.

[NightWatcher]

3. many of the tribes that are winning things from the government are full of half-bloods

and are not "true Native Americans". Some of these tribes only exist on paper and pay money to lobbists inorder to obtain land, rights, and even casinos. I have not researched this example, but it is something to remember before thinking that any money makes it into the hands and mouthes of the hungry tribesmen and women and children.

http://friendsofpineridgereservation.org/ help out if you can.

[razors edge]

4. I see your concerns,

I would like to see these tribes get some, if not all the money we owe them before we go bankrupt, so they can decide how best to use it to further their communities with schools, tuitions and some sort of sustainable development. (Preferably Not Just Casinos)

Nature getaway tourism, limited hunting parties, etc.

[XemaSab]

6. The National Bison Range is already an ecotourism spot....

But hunting parties, are you kidding me? It's a tiny refuge with a small auto tour loop.

Also, I hate to say this, but the bison are semi-tame there. It would be basically a canned hunt for rich white dudes from Texas. :(

[robinlynne]

7. makes sense to me that extraction or some other terrible corruption is behind this.

[XemaSab]

5. This is bizarre...

Why are they handing a refuge over to a tribe?

Are the tribal members biologists? Is the tribe now responsible for herd management, and accountable to anyone for the health of the bison and other herds there?

This sounds SO SHADY, IMHO. :(