Bison Range employees at career crossroads

Six Bison Range employees face four different career choices in anticipation of a March 15 implementation date of the Annual Funding Agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

The AFA was signed in mid-December and is currently being reviewed by Congress. If Congress takes no action, it will go into effect next month, and the Tribes and Bison Range employees are moving ahead in preparation of that mid-March date.

The AFA is the result of two years of negotiations between the Tribes and FWS, and would allow the Tribes to assume authority over 10 positions at the Bison Range.

Of those 10 positions, three are currently vacant, and one has been partially phased out, leaving six Bison Range employees with various employment options.

According to Bison Range refuge manager Steve Kallin, those six Bison Range employees face four options - leave FWS and work for the Tribes as a Tribal employee; leave FWS and work as a Tribal employee but still maintain their federal retirement benefits; work as a FWS employee "on loan" to the Tribes and working under Tribal supervision under an intergovernmental personnel agreement; or transfer to another FWS facility if a vacancy is available.

The options were outlined in a Jan. 18 memo from FWS' regional office in Denver, and were made public last week by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a group that has been critical of the funding agreement.

Kallin said the Jan. 18 memo wasn't too much of a shock to the affected employees, who were already aware of the funding agreement's implications.

"It (the memo) wasn't surprising. This is an effort by the Fish and Wildlife Service to be prepared for March 15 in the event the AFA goes into effect," Kallin said. "They are trying to get some lead time to process personnel actions, and to be prepared for March 15."

If the employees don't choose any of the four options, they will be terminated under a "reduction in force" action, Kallin said.

Bison Range employees met with Tribal representatives last Friday to discuss their options.

"This was an opportunity to provide them with Tribal personnel information and to answer any questions. The important part is to make ourselves available to answer any questions," said Clayton Matt, who heads the Tribes' natural resource department.

Matt said Tribal representatives went over the various benefits Bison Range employees would have if they agreed to work for the Tribes so that the employees could make an informed decision about whether or not to retain their federal government benefits.

"There are two Tribal employment options - they can choose to be a Tribal employee with federal benefits or with Tribal benefits," Matt said. "We wanted to give them as much information as possible so that they can make the best decision for themselves."

Matt said all of the affected employees would have the chance to be employed by the Tribes, and that their positions will not be advertised.

"They simply need to make a choice and it would start with each employee informing the Fish and Wildlife Service and Tribe of their choice," Matt said. "It comes down to choosing what benefits they want."

Matt said no one employment scenario is better than the others because each employee has their own preferences and career goals.

"That's an individual choice. It's not up to us to determine what is ideal," Matt said.

However, he said the Tribes would welcome all Bison Range employees who wanted to work for them.

"What would be best is for us to implement the AFA with those employees. We want to see them continue (working at the Bison Range), which they could do with the IPA (intergovernmental personnel agreement)," said Matt.

Matt said Friday's conversation had a degree of uncertainty for some employees, which was only natural considering the circumstances.

"We are breaking new ground here. All employees involved are new to this, and this brings a level of uncertainty," Matt said. "The biggest part is the unknowns, and if we can eliminate the unknowns, we can reduce the uncertainty involved. Each employee has the option to call us with any questions and meet with us individually."

The 10 positions include five maintenance positions, three park aid positions at the Bison Range's visitor center, one fire technician, and one biologist position. The current fire technician's job is split between the Bison Range and a fire zone in Western Montana, and that role is being relocated, Kallin said.

Kallin emphasized that this is all subject to the AFA going into effect, and that if it doesn't, everyone will retain their current positions.

"If an employee makes a selection, such as choosing to transfer to another FWS facility, and the AFA doesn't go into effect, then FWS won't hold them to their decision," said Kallin.

The affected employees declined to speak with a reporter regarding the situation.