Tribes deserve chance to run Bison Range

By Pat Williams

Center for the Rocky Mountain West

The recent controversy about the National Bison Range in Montana should remind us that individual self-reliance beats low self-esteem and independence is better than dependence.

In 1988, the members of the United States Congress overwhelmingly passed the Tribal Self-Governance Act for the purpose of encouraging Indian people to become increasingly self- sufficient, determinate, and collaborative. During these past two decades, that law has had a transitional and beneficial effect for Indian people throughout America.

There are now 260 tribes practicing self-governance through collaborative management and operations of programs once managed by the federal government. From Florida to Alaska and New England to California, Indian people, utilizing the provisions of the Self-Governance Act, are re-affirming their inherent authority to not only govern themselves but also collaborate in the management of various federal programs located on their reservations. From operating medical clinics, to schools, to Departments of Natural Resources, tribes have become very successful managers.

One of those proposed efforts is on the National Bison Range. These 18,541 acres of fertile, mountain-ringed, high prairie was forcibly purchased from the Salish-Kootenai Tribe for about 10 cents on the dollar in 1908. Even at that bargain price, the fed's check bounced! The Bison Range is an important ecological community, sustaining not only bison but numerous grasses, plants, birds, bighorn sheep, and antelope. Although it lies within the Indian reservation, it belongs, and will continue to belong, to all Americans. Managed by the federal Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bison Range remains a prime candidate for collaborative operations between that agency and the Salish and Kootenai Tribes under the Tribal Self-Governance Act.

Collaborative tribal and federal operations of facilities such as the Bison Range was precisely what we in the Congress intended when we wrote the Act and a few years later added strengthening amendments. In September of 1995, I helped jump-start the negotiations, which continue today, between the Tribes and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Using the precise language of the Act's committee report, I encouraged both the Secretary of the Interior and the agency to follow Congress's intent:

That the Secretary should interpret the bill (Tribal Self-Governance) to mean that all funds appropriated apply to the Department of the Interior, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Collaborative operational agreements for the Bison Range have been developed by both Democratic and Republican administrations. Has there been resistance? Unfortunately, yes, and much of it has come from elements within the federal government. Republican Senator John McCain commented on such foot-dragging in 1993 when he said, "One way that I measure the success of self-governance is to see how hard the federal bureaucracy will fight to keep the old ways."

Despite such resistance, the feds finally came to agreement with the Tribes two years ago, with Indians accepting limited management responsibility. Unfortunately, that agreement was suddenly canceled by the feds last December without the courtesy of notice.

Negotiations for a renewed agreement are currently underway. Those negotiations do not, and under the law cannot, involve a "take over" (as in "possession") of the Bison Range by the Tribes. The Salish and Kootenai understand that and agree with it. The Range must and will remain within the authority and responsibility of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The real question is: Are the Salish-Kootenai Tribes and their people competent to assume management and operational responsibilities?

Well, they certainly have history on their side. I remember vividly the fight over whether the Tribes could assume management of Mission Valley Power. Even Montana's Congressional delegation was harshly divided over that one. The Tribes won and today they operate that system with both expertise and efficiency. That electric power system is far from the only management the Tribes have successfully assumed. They have established water quality standards on Flathead Lake that are the envy of the nation. They received management responsibilities of the reservation is forests and do it far better than had the BIA. The Salish-Kootenai are the first tribes to designate a wilderness area within a reservation and their management of it has set the standard for wilderness stewardship. We Montanans should be proud of these our fellow citizens.

The Salish-Kootenai deserve the opportunity to manage, under the continuing authority of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, operations of the National Bison Range. Federal law purposely encourages exactly that.

Pat Williams served nine terms as a U.S. Representative from Montana. After his retirement, he returned to Montana and is teaching at The University of Montana where he also serves as a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Rocky Mountain West.