Bison Range grievance filed : Could affect management talks

MOIESE — A grievance has been filed against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stemming from allegations that some Bison Range employees have been subjected to a harassing work environment by Tribal employees.

However, a Tribal attorney working on negotiations to extend the Tribe's management of some of the functions at the Range said the grievance was timed to disrupt those negotiations, and that it's simply an effort to reduce Tribal management of some roles there.

According to Jeff Ruch, Executive Director of PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility), the FWS communicated to the Tribe that they could have additional positions if they wanted. Essentially, if an employee were to quit or leave the Bison Range, that person could be replaced with a tribal member, which would give the Tribe more than 50 percent of the workforce.

Ruch speculates that the Tribe is inducing people to quit by creating a hostile work environment.

"Federal employees should not be subjected to racial or sexual intimidation and should expect their own agency management to do more than just stand by and watch," Ruch stated in an article posted on PEER.org. "The Fish and Wildlife Service has put its own people in an untenable position by signaling to the tribes that they would get to keep any jobs that became vacant — in essence putting targets on the backs of refuge staff and creating an incentive for harassment."

The timing of the grievance is a bit suspicious, says tribal attorney Brian Upton, as the Tribe and FWS are currently in negotiations to renew their contract. He speculates that this is yet another effort by PEER to throw a monkey wrench into the works to delay or hamper the negotiation progress. PEER was one of several organizations that was critical of Tribal management of certain positions at the range, when the Tribes were negotiating with FWS in 2004 and 2005.

"PEER has a history of this," Upton said. "This fits in with their standard practice."

"It wouldn't surprise us if some of the employees were using the grievance to delay negotiations for a new agreement," he added.

PEER have been vocal opponents of the Tribe/FWS agreement enacted last year.

Ruch said that a majority of the Bison Range employees and about 40 conservation organizations opposed a contract agreement between the Tribe and FWS, which was finalized a year ago. The concern, he explained, was that a split-management system would result in the breakdown of wildlife operations.

The Tribe remains uncertain as to what the allegations are, or what particular incidents have occurred to create the alleged hostile working environment. They requested a copy of the grievance, but the FWS will not give them a copy, he said. The Tribe appealed their decision through the Freedom of Information Act.

In their grievance, the refuge employees request that the split-management agreement be rescinded or re-negotiated. In an effort to investigate the allegations fairly, U.S. FWS Deputy Regional Director Jay Slack indicated that the agency would use an outside party to conduct the investigation.

Upton explained that open positions at the range can be filled by tribal members, and that employment option was agreed upon in the initial Tribe/FWS negotiations last year. Upton said that he has not heard of any disharmony among Bison Range employees in the past year since the agreement was signed.

Furthermore, FWS retains almost all supervisory positions at the range, he added.

But Ruch said that the FWS and the Tribes were supposed to have renewed their contract in September. When asked why they haven't yet, he said "We assume it's because the [FWS] leadership doesn't know what to do."

"The annual agreement was set to lapse this past September but has been extended indefinitely by FWS on a provisional basis after the CSKT refused to sign a renewal of the agreement. The CSKT are seeking additional positions and funding, leading to a complete take-over of all refuge operations," reads the PEER.org article.

Upton stated that the Tribe submitted a proposal to the regional FWS office and they are waiting to hear back.