MOIESE - The U.S. government will not turn over management of the National Bison Range to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, the government's lead negotiator said Tuesday.
Rick Coleman, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's regional refuge chief, said the service has identified "functions and activities" that could be performed by the tribe "in cooperation with the refuge system."
"This refuge is managed by the federal government for the benefit of the American public - all Americans," he said. "People in Key West, Fla., have as much interest in and ownership of the National Bison Range as do people in Montana."
Still, negotiations are continuing between the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Salish and Kootenai Tribes, with the goal of transferring some duties at the Bison Range to the tribe, Coleman confirmed.
The negotiators' next meeting is later this month and is not open to the public.
Tribal leaders did not return telephone calls from the Missoulian on Tuesday afternoon. Coleman said he does not know how the tribes will respond to the government's offer to share some - but not all - responsibilities at the Bison Range.
In an Aug. 5 letter, the Fish and Wildlife Service suggested the tribes might be able to take over weed control, migratory non-game bird surveys, waterfowl pair counts, duck banding, big-game counts and health monitoring, and vegetation monitoring on the refuge.
In addition, the FWS said the tribes could negotiate to take over wildfire suppression and prescribed burns, and could do research and a report on the Bison Range's fire history.
Other areas open for negotiation were maintenance work, including repair of fences, buildings, roads and electrical systems, periodic work to move bison from one pasture to another; and visitor services, including maintenance of the Bison Range Web site, helping with school groups and environmental education programs, assisting with teacher education workshops and providing public information on the National Wildlife Refuge System and the Bison Range.
Coleman said both the Fish and Wildlife Service and the tribes have a better understanding of the possibilities than they did when tribal leaders approached the U.S. government nearly a year ago, saying they would like to manage the Bison Range.
The range and associated refuges at Pablo and Ninepipe are wholly located within the boundaries of the Flathead Indian Reservation.
Under federal law, Indian tribes can negotiate for management of some public lands and programs located within their reservations. The law does not, however, turn over national parks or refuges to tribal governments.
"We have had some very candid discussions in recent months," Coleman said, "and some good clearing of the air."
The Indian Self-Determination Act distinguished between tribal management of programs designed specifically for tribal members and tribal participation in the management of other national assets, according to Coleman.
There are tribal services previously provided by the Bureau of Indian Affairs - health care, for example - that are now open to full tribal management, he said.
But the Fish and Wildlife Service is not the BIA, Coleman said. "We are not providing services solely for tribal members. Our functions are for the benefit of the broader American public."
In those cases, the act provides for a sharing of responsibilities, with the U.S. government retaining all "inherently federal functions," he said.
Continued federal management is not, however, any reflection on the tribes' ability to manage the Bison Range, Coleman said. "We are dealing with one of the premiere tribes in the nation.
"But we have a responsibility to ensure a continuity of refuge management and to preserve the Bison Range as a national resource," he said.
The same approach is being taken at other national wildlife refuges where local tribes have asked for management authority.
At Grand Portage National Monument in Minnesota, refuge managers contracted out maintenance activities to a nearby tribal government, Coleman said.
At Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, managers have identified specific activities that could be given to the Athabaskan Tribe, including moose surveys and other wildlife management duties.
In each case, the funds that would be available to tribes would be the same as those now available to the Fish and Wildlife Service, Coleman said.
And Fish and Wildlife Service personnel are always foremost in negotiators' minds as they look to the future, he said. "These people are our most important resource."
Coleman said he is taking a "more conservative" approach to what duties can be shared with the Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
"We are being very careful about how close we get to that inherently federal line," he said. "As we have success with annual funding agreements, then perhaps other activities could be made available to the tribes."
Coleman said he was asked to be the government's chief negotiator by Ralph Morgenwyck, regional director of the Fish and Wildlife Service in Denver.
Coleman oversees 134 refuges in eight states in the Rocky Mountain-Prairie Region.
Once the tribes and the government reach an agreement, but before that agreement is signed, the public will be given 90 days to comment.
"Then all of them, all of them, all of them will be fully considered," Coleman said.
Finally, Congress will have 90 days to comment, modify or kill the agreement.
However, Coleman could not speculate on when an agreement will be ready for public review. (Last spring, an Interior Department official said an agreement would be in place by June 30.)
"It is clear to everybody that there are a multitude of details to be considered," he said, "and everybody wants to be very clear about the expectations."
Above all, the Bison Range and its mission of habitat and wildlife conservation must be protected, Coleman said.
"Teddy Roosevelt established this refuge more than 90 years ago," he said. "It is home to one of the healthiest and best-managed bison herds in the United States. We don't want anything to alter us from that course; we don't want to miss a beat."
Reporter Sherry Devlin can be reached at 523-5268 or at sdevlin@missoulian.com
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