Hot National Issues

The federal lands YOU paid for are prepared to be traded to Sovereign Indian governments

If you love to hunt and fish in the great American outdoors like I do, you need to listen up. Your right to walk, hunt, fish, bird watch and enjoy national parks, national forests, national wildlife refuges or any other federal lands throughout the United States of America is in jeopardy because of a little-known and unwritten policy promoted by the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service specifically.

Way back in 1994 during the Bill Clinton Administration and his Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt, the Indian Self Determination and Education Act was passed by Congress and signed into law allowing sovereign Indian governments of various Indian reservations to take over the staffing and money used to manage and care for federal land systems including, but not limited to, national parks, national wildlife refuges, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands and Bureau of Reclamation lands under the U.S. Department of Interior. Sovereign Indian governments are independent of the American taxpayer and federal laws governing the scientific management, funding and staffing of such land areas as all the national wildlife refuges in Alaska, Redwood National Park, Glacier National Park and many, many more properties owned by all American taxpayers and citizens.

The entire process of turnover to sovereign Indian governments begins at the National Bison Range, a national wildlife refuge begun in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt and his friends at the Boone and Crockett Club, including New York City's Natural History Museum curator William Hornday. Private citizens across the United States raised thousands of dollars to purchase the last of the wild bison (commonly known as buffalo) from the Northern Plains of the American West. Children collected pennies, dimes and nickels in schools and churches, including my Great Aunt Monie in Chicago who remembers the process of placing coins into cardboard boxes that were shaped like wild bison. Congress ordered that money collected from taxpayers be spent to purchase 19,000 acres from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) that are the government of the Flathead Indian Reservation 45 minutes north of Missoula, Montana. The National Bison Range became the first national wildlife refuge dedicated to bringing back from the brink of extinction wild bison and other wildlife that had been killed to feed railroad workers and other white settlers in the late 1800s. The CSKT government was paid fair market value TWICE for the 19,000 acres that became the National Bison Range; once in 1908 for $51,000 and again in the 1970s when the CSKT government sued the federal government for a second payment that totaled in excess of $2 million. The taxpayers of America bought and paid for the National Bison Range at fair market value.

Hunters and fishermen added to the land that was the National Bison Range and other public lands when they pushed for the passage of the Pittman-Robertson Act and Dingell-Johnson Act that tax hunters and fishermen who buy equipment for their sports and give that money to state game and fish agencies as the National Wildlife Refuge System to buy more public lands.

Starting with vengeance in February 2003, the CSKT government pushed to take over all management of staffing and money from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the National Bison Range as a test case to begin the process of turning all federal land properties over to various federally recognized Indian governments throughout the United States. The chairman of the CSKT and their chief spokesman constantly spoke to the media that they "owned" the National Bison Range and thus should be in charge of it and most media went along with that false information.

Efforts to stop the takeover of this national wildlife refuge by the CSKT failed on March 15, 2005 when the Congressional Delegation of two Republicans and one Democrat allowed the CSKT to remove federal workers with decades of experience managing the National Bison Range and turning the tasks and federal money over to CSKT employees with no experience managing a national wildlife refuge or any other federal property. By December of 2006, wild bison were being under-fed and under-watered by the CSKT workers and work that would normally be completed by federal workers was not done at all or done poorly. Evaluations of the CSKT workers performing dozens of federally-mandated tasks were filed by the refuge manager and fully investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. So badly had the CSKT performed that the U.S. Department of Interior's Inspector General agreed that the CSKT should be removed from the National Bison Range for abusing wildlife, the habitat and federal workers. The chairman of the CSKT physically attacked the refuge manager and other CSKT workers physically and verbally attacked other federal workers, which is a violation of federal law.

A second round of negotiations took place over the objections of private citizens, both CSKT members and non-CSKT members, and in 2008 the CSKT returned to the National Bison Range for a "second chance." But, the abuse of wildlife and federal workers continued and this time, highly trained horses used to round up wild bison during their famous October roundup in 2009 were run into gravel and had their legs and feet permanently damaged by CSKT workers that admitted they did not know how to ride cutting horses used to herd the wildlife on the refuge. The CSKT chose to ride ATVs to herd the wild bison because of their inability to ride the highly-trained horses that federal workers rode for decades with no damage to the horses. Charges of abuse were filed by citizens involved in protecting the National Wildlife Refuge System and in February 2010 the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) requested AGAIN from the DOI Inspector General a full investigation of the charges by private citizens. The investigation began in March 2010 and continues now. A final report will be filed by the Inspector General by the end of 2010.

Ironic to this story is the fact that most of the workers hired by the CSKT in 2008 were NOT CSKT members but white men and women with no experience caring for a national wildlife refuge. This is significant because during the secret negotiations between the CSKT and USFWS the CSKT argued that they must be "given" complete control of the National Bison Range for the sake of economic development of their beloved CSKT members and the Republican and Democrat politicians supporting the CSKT argued that the CSKT should control the National Bison Range to help them find gainful employment for their people. In reality, people from outside the Flathead Indian Reservation applied for and were given these inherently federal jobs with no ability to perform the jobs assigned to them.

At the same time, PEER and the Blue Goose Alliance (BGA) filed court cases in Washington, D.C. federal court in December 2008 demanding that the federal laws protecting our national wildlife refuges and other public lands be upheld. Decisions by the federal judge reviewing the evidence will be written by the end of this summer 2010 and added to that decision will be the evidence gathered by the DOI Inspector General of abuse of wildlife, domestic horses and federal workers by CSKT workers. DOI and USFWS officials attempt to settle this court action because they know that their ability to defend the actions and non-actions of the CSKT at the National Bison Range are weak but that does not stop the CSKT government to join the DOI and USFWS in their defense of their behavior and incompetence at the National Bison Range.

You as a hunter and fisherman that use public lands for your outdoor recreation can help PEER and BGA by making a tax deductible donation to their legal funds. Any amount of money sent to them is tax deductible and any amount is appreciated to pay for office expenses associated with the lawsuits. Holland & Hart law firm has donated their legal staff to defend this case and PEER has a staff of attorneys doing the same. Both organizations and the conservation heroes individuals behind it recognize that if the CSKT are allowed to remain at one of America's oldest national wildlife refuges to mistreat wildlife, domestic animals and federal scientists that this abuse will continue to other national parks, national wildlife refuges and other federal lands under the DOI or the U.S. Department of Agriculture (U.S. Forest Service, etc.).

Individual citizen familiar with the cases filed by PEER and BGA think the cases will eventually go to the U.S. Supreme Court because both are so precedent-setting for the funding and staffing of ALL federal lands.

If you want to receive action alerts about these cases or the issues surrounding the National Bison Range, please e-mail me at bluemountain@montana.com. Please also consider a donation to PEER and BGA. To make a donation, send your tax deductible contribution to 5425 Skyway Drive, Missoula, MT 59804. Make a check out to PEER and Blue Goose Alliance as they each have significant cases to protect the entire National Wildlife Refuge System, National Park System, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation and all lands under the management and funding of the U.S. Department of Interior.

Susan Campbell Reneau is the author of 21 books on big-game hunting, wildlife management and western U.S. history. She has been one of the many individuals throughout the United States that have watched the issues and cases unfold at the National Bison Range and has fought to take the DOI and USFWS to federal court as they turned their backs on federal workers and the U.S. taxpayer that paid for our federal public lands. Susan has a small band of men and women throughout the United States called conservation heroes that pay attention to what happens at the National Bison Range. Susan is a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C. and the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado. She is a bird and big-game hunter and mother and wife of four additional hunters and fishermen, not the mention the mother of two hunting Labrador retrieves that are relatively silly, but then, Labrador retrievers are always THAT.

Washington, DC - Two bison had to be euthanized from injuries sustained in the annual roundup at the National Bison Range, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). In the first year under a controversial delegation of control to a local tribe of the iconic century-old national refuge in Montana, the fall roundup was conducted for the first time using all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and a jeep rather than on horseback. Two ATVs also rolled over during the roundup and one tribal worker was injured.

Under an agreement which went into full effect in January 2009, the U.S. Interior Department transferred operation of the entire National Bison Range to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT). A previous agreement for joint operation of the Bison Range with the CSKT was cancelled in late 2006 due to an array of performance-related issues on the part of the Tribe, as well as reported harassment of federal refuge employees by the CSKT.

Records obtained by PEER under the Freedom of Information Act disclose that two bison had to be euthanatized "from broken legs" in the annual roundup this past October. One was a mature bull which had escaped from a loading chute and the other "young bull was stacked in behind the chute and when rearing caught his horns and nose a couple of times," according to an e-mail from an agency veterinarian who concedes the roundup was not formally monitored by federal officials. Citing extensive guidance given to the CSKT, it concludes "To what degree your operation deviated from that input I cannot say."

One persistent problem raised by CSKT staff is their unfamiliarity with and trepidation about riding horses, especially for herding bison, labeled the "the most dangerous thing we do on the refuge" by one CSKT staff member in a memo. The memo also expresses a concern about perception of "outside observers," noting: "There are a lot of factors that come into play when making decisions about moving bison. One factor of concern is that people will accuse us of not doing our jobs, or lacking the experience to do the job (e.g. herd bison)."

"Future roundups may be even messier once the bison figure out how easy it is to tip over an ATV," stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, whose organization, along with four former Bison Range managers, a former Chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System and a former Assistant Interior Secretary, as well as a refuge employee whose job was displaced, is suing to invalidate the delegation to the CSKT. "Skilled horsemanship had always been one of the hallmarks of the National Bison Range."

A related issue is injury to the horses on the refuge. For example, shortly after purchasing four new horses for $13,824, three horses turned up lame. In addition, PEER has received reports about problems ranging from poaching to pesticide applications to proper fencing.

"The key question is whether wildlife and wild lands are at greater risk under this new arrangement," Ruch added. "Scrutiny is needed not only for the sake of the Bison Range but also for the more than three-quarters of the entire National Wildlife Refuge System and nearly 60 National Parks, stretching from Redwood to Cape Cod National Seashore, that are also eligible for tribal delegation agreements."

Read the CSKT e-mail on problems with horseback riding

View e-mail describing the death of two bison

Examine the PEER lawsuit

Look at the PEER lawsuit

See the last report (in 2006) on CSKT performace on Bison Range

Revisit the cancellation of the previous CSKT-Bison Range agreement

INSPECTOR GENERAL OPENS BISON RANGE INVESTIGATION

"Independent Evaluation" of Environmental, Financial and Operational Problems

Washington, DC - The U.S. Interior Department Office of Inspector will investigate tribal management of the National Bison Range, according to a letter released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The action came in response to a PEER complaint citing a host of deficiencies on the iconic century-old refuge in Montana, ranging from poaching and other hunting violations to bison deaths and injuries from inadequate staff training, and from improper fencing to illegal pesticide applications.

Under an agreement that went into effect in January 2009, the U.S. Interior Department transferred operation of the entire National Bison Range to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT). A previous agreement for joint operation of the Bison Range with the CSKT was cancelled in late 2006 due to performance-related issues, as well as reported harassment of federal refuge employees by the CSKT.

Records obtained by PEER under the Freedom of Information Act indicate that several of the previous difficulties seem to be recurring in the current arrangement, including inadequate law enforcement, operational lapses as well as environmental violations. In a March 18, 2010 letter, Acting Inspector General Mary Kendall wrote to PEER:

"Our Office of Audits, Inspections and Evaluations will conduct an independent evaluation of the National Bison Range. Should we identify any violations of law, regulation or policy, we will certainly refer such information to the appropriate enforcement or programmatic authority."

"This is welcome news and we have much more information to share with the Inspector General," stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting that the current agreement with the CSKT at the National Bison Range expires September 30, 2011. "The timing of the Inspector General evaluation may determine whether, or under what conditions, this arrangement continues at Bison Range."

Another factor affecting the future of National Bison Range is ongoing litigation challenging the legality of the agreement. PEER has brought one federal lawsuit to invalidate the delegation to the CSKT and its co-plaintiffs include four former Bison Range managers, a former Chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System and a former Assistant Interior Secretary, as well as a refuge employee whose job was displaced. A similar suit has also been brought by the Blue Goose Alliance, a group of retired refuge employees.

"In addition to violations, we will urge the Inspector General to review whether provisions of the current agreement are actually being carried out," Ruch added, pointing, for example, to the failure by the CSKT to ever complete the "2009 Plan of Work" required under the agreement and the absence of a work plan for 2010. "If there is no work plan how can one determine whether the work is going according to plan?"

The issue of tribal management at Bison Range has national implications in that, if upheld, more than three-quarters of the entire National Wildlife Refuge System and nearly 60 National Parks, stretching from Redwood to Cape Cod National Seashore, are eligible for similar delegation pacts with Indian tribes.

See the letter from the Interior Inspector General

Read the PEER complaint to the Inspector General

Look at some the documents that sparked the Inspector General Review

Review problems with bison roundup and history of Bison Range Controversy

Examine the PEER lawsuit

Only because of Freedom of Information and a LONG wait, the activist group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) was able to officially learn of the poor performance of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) at the annual round up of wild bison at the National Bison Range. Below is the press release filed by PEER moments ago.

Two wild bison had to be killed on the spot due to injuries caused when the CSKT refused to repair the equipment necessary for handling these huge animals. Two workers, one of whom was the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Project Leader at the National Bison Range, Jeff King, were seriously injured when their ATVs they were riding flipped as they herded wild bison down the steep slope to the round up corrals. Mr. King was helping the CSKT because the CKST didn't have enough qualified people to do the work. Furthermore, the CSKT staff did not want to ride horses to herd the wild bison because they didn't have the skills to do so. ATVs were used that are far more dangerous for the animals and humans. ATVs are harder to control and horses intimidate wild bison more than the machines. On many occasions the people the CSKT hired to perform their contract with the National Bison Range have proven themselves to be incompetent and those people are generally NOT Indian or CSKT members. They are white men that did not have any experience working for any national wildlife refuge, including Mike Carter, the white man in charge of the CSKT contract at the National Bison Range.

No contractor or sovereign nation should be in charge of any national wildlife refuge or national park because each of these parks and national refuges belong to a system of federal lands. CSKT tribal members and non-CSKT members that are FEDERAL WORKERS have done an outstanding job as staff of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since the National Bison Range was established in 1908 when 19,000 acres of land was purchased from the CSKT to form the nation's first national wildlife refuge for big game animals. The CSKT were paid TWICE for this land - once in 1908 and once in 1971 and both at fair market value.

If you want the local perspective on this story, feel free to call me at my office in Missoula through today, February 18 at 251-5116. After February 18 through February 23 I will be traveling on business and you can reach me using my Verizon cell phone at 719-661-4037. No matter what, I hope you do a story on this. No federal worker, CSKT or otherwise, is allowed to speak to you or they will be fired or transferred or put on probation. I emphasize FEDERAL WORKERS. Some of the best workers at the National Bison Range that were also long-time U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees were CSKT members or decedents and they were discriminated against by the CSKT government and/or humiliated.

In the spirit of Theodore Roosevelt, I say, the wildlife and its habitat cannot speak, so I must and I will.

The National Park Service does not have a reasonable wildlife management plan and the state fish and game agencies are left holding the financial bag to try and figure this all out, which is wrong. Open hunting of wildlife within the boundaries of Yellowstone must be allowed, not paid sharpshooters, so that hunting tags can be issued from Wyoming, Idaho and Montana to cull the wild wolf population to manageable levels. We must not remove all wolves because they are a part of the total ecosystem but he unnaturally larger and stronger wolves from Canada must be removed. The natural wild wolf population was coming back to Yellowstone and throughout these three states on their own and that is how it should have happened. Humans are the most profound and effective predator, not the wild wolf. We can kill more people and animals in one afternoon that a pack of wolves can kill in a year using semi-automatic rifles BUT what happened in Yellowstone when the 1995 wolves from Canada arrived caused an imbalance to all our wildlife and habitat, which makes the 1995 nightmare more of a nightmare.

We need to remove the introduced wild wolves from the Yellowstone ecosystem and return our states to the natural levels of wild wolf populations that won't destroy Shiras moose, elk and other cervids, not to mention the destruction of coyote populations and other lesser predators. In the Bitterroot Valley where I live between Lolo and Missoula, the wolf population is growing so large that the elk population is crashing there, too. I suspect the 1995 introduction of Canadian wolves had something to do with that, too.

In the spirit of Theodore Roosevelt, Ding Darling, Horace Albright and all the men of the Boone and Crockett Club of the 19th and early 20th century, I say, the wildlife and its habitat cannot speak so we must and we will and we do.

I urge we all call Tim Reid and remind him that wolves introduced to Yellowstone in 1995 has crashed the population of elk and moose in Yellowstone. Please pass this wonderful set of photographs and Tim Reid's name and contact information to people you think will politely call him and express your concern regarding the wolf re-introduction AND the systematic slaughter of wild bison by sharp-shooters. I suspect Tim isn't the decision maker at Yellowstone so ask him for the name and photo number of the person or people you can also contact by phone and e-mail. Politeness at this point is critical but we must contact him. I will do it today.

Also point out to Tim Reid that disease was brought to wildlife because of cattle and domesticated sheep, not the other way around. The balance of nature has been unbalanced by the lack of wildlife management at Yellowstone National Park.

Shooting bison with antibiotics is unproductive and stressful to bison and will fail as quickly as the shooting of wild elk by antibiotics failed by the Wyoming fish and game department at the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole.

Superb photos of a cow elk giving birth to her calf right next to the Administration building at Yellowstone National Park headquarters in Mammoth Hot Springs! You can see how wildlife and people can live together harmoniously.

And, I figure it is one of the few places in the Yellowstone area where a cow elk can safely have her calf without it being eaten immediately by a grizzly or a wolf!