Roundup goes on as planned
A bison attempts to evade workers that try to corral him onto the scale.
MOIESE — Last week’s decision to nullify the Annual Funding Agreement (AFA) between the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service had the potential to put this week’s annual roundup at the National Bison Range in jeopardy. But a relatively quick response and determination meant the event went off without a hitch.
Last Tuesday’s rescission of the AFA put 13 CSKT employees at the Bison Range out of work, but a filing in United States District Court last Friday by the U.S. Department of Interior allowed six employees involved in field work to participate in this week’s annual roundup.
“The Tribes are glad to make workers available for the bison and other resources, despite the difficult circumstances that surround the judge’s decision,” CSKT spokesman Rob McDonald said. “We are trying to minimize the impact [of the decision] as much as we can. One way of doing that is making employees available as required by the Department of Interior.”
McDonald said that in addition to paid employees, at least a dozen tribal members from the community obtained permission to leave their regular jobs to serve as volunteers during the roundup.
The “emergency hiring” of tribal workers was helped along by Assistant Regional Director of Region 6 of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Richard Coleman, who filed documents asking for the hires. The document states that “these appointments would provide sufficient staff to insure the roundup is conducted safely and efficiently,” and notes that many of the former employees had prepared “several months” in advance of the roundup.
Those employees were on hand Monday and Tuesday as bison and school children observed one another during the annual event on the range.
Despite the brief respite from the court-ordered decision, questions remain for the Tribes on what to do about the AFA. McDonald said tribal employees were told not to come into work beginning on Wednesday of last week, immediately after the court order.
“Are they not paid, or laid off, do they qualify for benefits, will there be another job?” McDonald said. “There are lots of questions up in the air and the Tribes are tying to minimize the impact on the employees as well.”