Bison Range staff axed

The number of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees working at the Bison Range will be cut substantially in what the Service acknowledges is a cost-cutting move, but the organization says services won’t be affected that much.

However, Salish and Kootenai tribal council members expressed frustration at the move, especially since FWS also acknowledged it will be moving some of the bison to other ranges around the country in an effort to bolster those herds’ numbers and genetic make-up.

FWS made the announcement last week, saying that the reorganization is in line with staff reduction taking place at refuges across the country, noting that the reduction was made possible because there’s no longer an annual funding agreement in place with the tribes.

Discussions to renew an AFA with the Tribes broke down in December, causing much frustration for the tribal council, which had hoped to continue to have a hand in managing what the tribes consider to be a valuable historic and cultural resource.

Specifically, the Bison Range will now be managed by about six full-time employees, although FWS refuge supervisor Dean Rundle said the Service will use seasonal and part-time staff to help maintain service at the range during the peak summer season.

The slashing of full-time jobs is simply the reality inherent in an organization that has had to deal with funding cuts throughout the organization, and now that the FWS has full management of the range, it can take those steps, Rundle said.

“As we do workforce planning throughout the region, we are looking to do our mission in ways we haven’t done before. We’ve been reducing staff [nationwide] since 2003, but the Bison Range, because of the AFA with the tribes, was insulated from that,” Rundle said. “Now, we are able to manage the Bison Range in terms of personnel decisions that have been taking place at other refuges around the country.”

Of the 17 original full-time local positions, Rundle noted that many of them were involved in other areas of Western Montana, such as Lost Trail Refuge and several other federal sites the Service manages that are considered part of the Bison Range, but that are located elsewhere. Although FWS is cutting a lot of staff locally, not all of that is coming from the Bison Range, he said.

Instead, the Service will rely on contracted and seasonal workers instead of employing year-round, full-time FWS staff, Rundle said.

“We will need several seasonal employees during the summer tourist season. We can use local students under a work/study program, for example, to help with that. Whenever we have a vacancy now, we are asking ‘Is that really high priority work, or is the best way to fill that job through a temporary employee, contract work or some other means?’” Rundle said.

But he acknowledged there will be a lower level of service, as FWS looks to trim jobs and duties that aren’t paramount to the running of the range.

One example would be using a “drop box” to collect visitor fees, based on an honor system, instead of having a full-time staff collect fees at the visitor center, he noted.

“We’ve been collecting fees by having someone working at the visitor center, making change, but most refuges collect fees on an honor system already. We’ll also have to look at some of the picnic type areas that aren’t as wildlife dependant, that might not need as large an area to be maintained by maintenance personnel,” he said.

Rundle acknowledged visitors might see a reduction in services, but said overall, the Bison Range will still provide a quality wildlife viewing experience.

“Could there be changes to visitors? There might be, but I don’t think they will be significant,” he said. “We’re confident that we will be able to manage the Bison Range to provide public viewing of bison there.”

But perhaps must frustrating to the tribes is the fact that FWS plans on moving some of the herd to other refuges around the country, under a “meta-population management” system that looks at the bison at the six refuges around the country as one large herd, not individual ones.

Rundle said the herd at the Bison Range, with it’s superior genetic make-up that is not diluted with bovine genes, is a good candidate for bolstering other herds around the country.

“There are bison at six other national ranges in the system. Some of these herds have been managed at the local level since the early 20th century by the local bison range manager. We have been getting new science about the genetic make-ups of the herds, and we think we can do a better job of managing the bison as one herd, instead of looking at them as four or five different herds,” Rundle said.

But that news doesn’t sit well with tribal leaders.

“The range is a cherished piece of living history and culture for the Tribes. Tribal members started this herd. To see the herd broken up and sent in a dozen different directions is heartbreaking for the Tribes,” communications director Rob McDonald said in a press release sent out soon after FWS made its announcement last week.

Tribal officials feel the move signals yet another breakdown in negotiations between the two organizations, which reached a climax in late December when a new AFA was overturned a few days later by higher-ranking Interior Department officials, turning complete control of the range back to FWS.

However, Rundle said FWS is still interested in negotiating with the tribes for a limited amount of work to be done, in an effort to outsource some of the full-time jobs.

“We’re actively seeking right now for an agreement for the tribes to provide fire suppression efforts on the refuge,” he said.

But the tribes feel reduced staffing will cut services to the range, reducing the quality of the experience there, to the detriment of tourists and locals alike.

“As recent as early 2007, FWS officials went on to great length to defend their uncooperative actions as being driven by a desire to keep the NBR ‘crown jewel’ in pristine condition. Even so, FWS now has control and their decision is to shrink a place cherished by the community, including Indian and non-Indian alike,” McDonald said.

Rundle said about 65 bison have been moved to other refuges, which will help other herds grow, while giving more room to grow for the Bison Range herd.

“The Bison Range animals are very valuable. They are disease-free and very pure genetically. The geneticists, the experts, are telling us we need a herd of about 1,000 to 1,200 animals to ensure we don’t lose genetic quality over a period of one to two centuries,” he said.

“Right now, we’re at carrying capacity at the Bison Range, so there’s no room for that herd to grow. But if we move some to another refuge, that will provide room to grow, and help us get that herd of 1,200 across the refuge system.”

“Tribal leaders are still operating under the belief that the Interior Department is working toward its pledge of reinstating a contract to return CSKT workers to the Bison Range,” McDonald said. “But with the 100th anniversary of the National Bison Range coming next year, it’s hard not to imagine the general public will be upset by this move to shrink the Bison Range.”