It's time for Montana's congressional delegation to wade into the fracas involving the National Bison Range near Moiese on the Flathead Indian Reservation. The future of this important western Montana wildlife refuge and tourist attraction is at stake amid a drawn-out dispute over the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes' desire to manage the range. Montanans' congressman and senators are uniquely positioned to intervene with hearings and, if necessary, legislation to resolve the dispute and save a Montana treasure.
Just recently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced plans to truck away most of the bison from the century-old refuge first established to help save the species from extinction. Along with that move, the agency said it plans to dramatically reduce staffing at the Bison Range to levels that can't help but affect the public and diminish a refuge that provides some of the country's best wildlife viewing opportunities.
The tribes petitioned to manage the Bison Range under a 1994 federal law encouraging tribal governments to assume management of certain federal programs on Indian reservations. That led to a shared management agreement - and, unfortunately, increasing conflict between a heel-dragging Fish and Wildlife Service and the tribes. The federal agency this winter abruptly terminated the shared management agreement, but the U.S. Department of Interior, which supposedly controls the Fish and Wildlife Service, immediately overruled the agency, calling for a new agreement.
Those of us who've been sitting on the sidelines aghast at the unnecessary conflict must be forgiven if we now view plans to gut the Bison Range as part of a burn-the-village-to-save-it strategy. That is, make it less desirable for the tribes to manage, even if it means making it less useful for wildlife and the public.
That could be an overly cynical view. To be honest, it's hard to make any sense of the proposal to degrade one of the nation's finest wildlife refuges. At the very least, it's safe to say the conflict over management of the Bison Range reduces the ability of the Fish and Wildlife Service and tribes to work together to effectively defend the refuge from ill-advised retrenchment. The sometimes vitriolic conflict also has pushed many western Montanans to the sidelines, neutralizing what could be a powerful voice of reason. This hasn't been a fight most people want to join. We suspect most Montanans and visitors to the state couldn't care less who manages the Bison Range, so long as it's well-managed.
It's safe to say that it won't be managed well if the Fish and Wildlife Service carries out its new plans - at least it won't meet the public's expectations.
It's time to resolve the conflict at the Bison Range and rally in defense of this natural jewel. It just can't be all that hard to come up with a workable management agreement in which the tribes play a legitimate role. Montana's Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester and Rep. Denny Rehberg need to call a meeting. They have the power to bring all the players to the table and get some clear answers. And if they can't coax the Fish and Wildlife Service to respect Montana's significant interest in the Bison Range, they can introduce legislation that will.
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