LETTER: Feds need to keep bison range

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes are proposing legislation that would give them ownership of the National Bison Range.

Contrary to tribal claims, this action would by definition set a precedent, as a federal wildlife refuge has never before been given to a non-governmental entity. The 1997 National Wildlife Systems Improvement Act gives the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service the responsibility and resources “to administer a national network of lands and waters ... for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.”

The National Bison Range is a unique and special resource for Montana and visitors from the whole world. It is about more than bison. Nowhere else can one see the diversity of big game such as elk, deer, bighorn sheep, antelope and other wildlife in a two-hour drive. Larger private bison ranches don’t have “public welcome” signs. The bison range is also an important component to depressed local economies.

Salish and Kootenai control of the Mission Mountain Tribal Wilderness has resulted in restrictions on recreation and harvesting of berries or mushrooms by non-tribal people. Unrestricted public access to the bison range can only be assured by maintaining public ownership and Fish and Wildlife Service management responsibility.

While the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes claim to have wildlife management experience, they have not shown that theirs would be better than the Fish and Wildlife or that it would be of benefit to the public. In short, this legislation appears to be an attempt by the tribes to acquire additional land and the economic benefit of a publicly owned resource at no cost, and to the potential detriment of the people of the U.S. and Montana. We need to contact our congressional delegation and oppose this effort.

—Philip L. Barney, Polson