Bison range staff cut in half

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday announced staff reductions at the National Bison Range at Moiese as part of a regional work force restructuring plan.

The changes, which include a distribution of bison to other refuges, were met with criticism from the Salish and Kootenai tribes and a vocal bison-range advocate.

But Mitch King, regional director for the Service, said the changes were necessary.

"The National Bison Range has played an essential role in the conservation of American bison for nearly a century," he said. "It is important, however, to remember that the National Wildlife Refuge System is constantly changing and adapting to meet the nation's conservation challenges, including operational realities that require we focus on our core mission and trust responsibilities. The changes at the Range reflect this reality."

Effective immediately, staffing at the range will be reduced from a budgeted staff of 17.5 employees to seven positions, including two seasonal positions, as well as transferring three positions charged with management of the Lost Trail refuge west of Kalispell and the Swan Lake refuge to the Benton Lakes National Wildlife Complex headquartered in Great Falls.

Dean Rundle, a regional refuge supervisor, explained that the changes are part of a nationwide restructuring effort that has been under way since 2003.

Although the service has cut 40 positions across the eight-state Western region, the bison range was excluded from any staffing changes because it had been operated under a joint management arrangement with the Salish and Kootenai Tribes for the past two years.

The arrangement proved to be contentious, and a decision last year by the Fish and Wildlife Service to terminate it proved to be so controversial that Department of Interior officials soon after announced intentions of working toward a new agreement.

Rundle said he is not aware of the status of those negotiations, but there currently is no standing agreement with the tribes. And that, coupled with the distribution of bison to other refuges, made the staffing changes possible.

A smaller staff is justified because there will be fewer bison to manage, Rundle said.

But the intent of reducing the herd is aimed at increasing a genetically healthier and larger herd distributed among four long-standing bison ranges and two relatively new ones.

"We are moving towards managing our bison in the system more holistically as a metapopulation," Rundle said. "They will be managed as a single population."

In December, 40 bison were moved to Neil Smith National Wildlife Refuge near Des Moines, Iowa, and seven were sent to Sully's Hill refuge in North Dakota. In March, 16 were moved to Rocky Mountain Arsenal, a new refuge on a former military base near Denver.

That leaves about 325 bison at the Montana bison range, which Rundle characterized as a "normal" population before the calving season.

"We've been managing the bison range at pretty close to carrying capacity," he said. "These reductions will make room for that herd to grow again."

The changes will "further reduce the stature of the National Bison Range," according to a press release from the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes.

"To see this herd broken up and sent in a dozen directions is heart-breaking for the tribes," according to the release. "Had the FWS been cooperative in working with the tribes, this drastic reduction may have been avoided and the general public would be served better."

Bison-range advocate Susan Reneau said the changes are a "direct impact of a wasteful and useless" cooperative management arrangement that the service had with the tribes.

Reneau has been critical of conflicts that developed between longtime refuge employees and tribal contract workers.

Rundle confirmed that three refuge employees, including refuge manager Steve Kallin, are soon expected to transfer to positions elsewhere in the national wildlife refuge system.

Tribal officials are hoping for a new joint management arrangement, called an "annual funding agreement."

"Tribal leaders are still operating under the belief that the Interior Department is working toward its pledge of reinstating a contract to return CSKT workers to the bison range," according to the tribal press release.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com