By Andrew Fish - Leader Staff

An historic moment occurred last Thursday when Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Chairman James Steele Jr. and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Director H. Dale Hall signed a new Annual Funding Agreement regarding the management of the National Bison Range Complex Headquartered in Moiese, Mont. According to the agreement, the CSKT will assume a "substantive role in the day-to-day management of programs" at the Bison Range.

Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne also participated in the signing ceremony and said, "With this agreement, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes are entering into a new era of partnership and cooperation that will enhance the National Bison Range and its fish and wildlife resources for all Americans."

Emphasizing the spirit of cooperation, Chairman Steele said at the signing, "This represents the latest step in the Tribes' fourteen-year journey towards partnering with the Fish & Wildlife Service at the National Bison Range. We believe that, as partners, we can make a special place even more special."

The agreement is the outcome of 18 months of negotiation between the CSKT and the service. "The agreement is the result of a long and hard, but collaborative negotiation process," said Steele in an interview after the signing ceremony. "Both parties recognize that we need to work together to provide the best for the bison."

The basis for entering the agreement is provided by the Tribal Self-Governance Act of 1994, which allows qualified tribes to assume control of certain activities for which they have demonstrated "special geographic, historical, or cultural significance." Now that the agreement is signed by both parties, it will be sent to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and the House Natural Resources committee for a 90-day review period. After the review period, the agreement will take effect during the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2009, which begins on October 1st, 2008.

Reactions to the agreement

This is not the first agreement regarding CSKT involvement in the Bison Range. The previous agreement was terminated abruptly by the service two years ago and is widely regarded as not ending well. The new agreement, both sides admit, builds on lessons learned.

An important aspect of the new agreement, emphasized by the CSKT and the service is the cooperation between two governments. "I have a cup-half-full attitude on this one. It's not asking the tribal employees to be contractors," said Bison Range Manager Bill West. "It's asking them to be partners. We both want a future that includes getting the job done and enjoying doing it."

The agreement stems from the recognition that the two parties have shared interest in the bison range, according to West. "The tribe has a lot of history here. Their whole culture has its roots here," said West. "The Fish & Wildlife Service has a lot of history here. America has a lot of history here. This is where the bison turned around. There is a lot of common ground."

The end of the 90-day review period will occur in October, around the time of the annual bison roundup. During the roundup, bison are checked for disease and vaccinated. West anticipates that tribal members will be participating in the roundup and is very optimistic about that. "They conducted the two roundups very well the two years they were here."

Paul Bishop, head of the local group Friends of the National Bison Range, agreed that new agreement is hug step forward. "We're thrilled with not just the agreement, but the attitudes also," said Bishop. "We're completely in support of both the letter and spirit of the agreement."

The National Wildlife Refuge Association is guardedly optimistic about the new agreement. "Our hope is that this agreement will result in a National Bison Range that thrives in achieving its vital wildlife conservation mission," said Evan Hirsche, president of the association, in a press release. "Yet, we remain concerned that such an agreement may be implemented absent a national FWS policy governing such partnerships."

One group expressing skepticism regarding the agreement is Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. "We saw both good and bad," said executive director Jeff Ruch. "Our principle concern is that we fail to see how this will improve the refuge. It was done to solve a political dispute." However, PEER's opposition is not specific to this particular agreement, instead it is more concerned about the lack of Department of Interior policy guiding such agreements. "We're concerned about the precedent this sets," said Ruch. "We assume that the National Bison Range will be a three-year experiment for the rest of the country."

In response to those critical of the agreement, Steele reminds that the health of the bison was central to the negotiations and agreement. "Both the tribe and the Fish & Wildlife Service will work together to make this work," said Steele. "The critics need to realize that this is a true partnership with both sides committed to the resource."