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Article 2/08/05 |
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Bison
Range Employees Given Removal Notices
Action Against Refuge Workers While Congressional Review
Pending
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
Environmental Media Service 2/08/05
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Washington,
DC — Even though Congress has yet to act on the
proposed agreement to turn half of the National Bison
Range Wildlife Refuge in Montana over to the Confederated
Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT), refuge workers are
being asked to relocate, change jobs or resign, according
to an agency memo released today by Public Employees for
Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Congress has until
March 15th to veto the agreement but Bison Range employees
were given notices last week and must indicate their choice
by February 18th.
Under the pending agreement, more than half of the positions
(10 out of 18) positions at Bison Range will be taken
over by the Tribe. A memo distributed by the U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service Regional Office in Denver lays
out essentially three options for those employees deemed
“affected”:
· Agree to be reassigned to another National Wildlife
Refuge elsewhere in the country, if vacancies exist;
· Go to work for the CSKT; or
· Resign or be fired.
The option of working for the CSKT came with options of
working as a tribal employee or working as a federal employee
under tribal supervision but the CSKT has not met with
the current refuge employees to explain whether either
is realistic. In addition, Bison Range employees remain
unsure whether they would work in their current position
or be reassigned by the tribe. Moreover, the duration
of the tribal placement of federal employees is up in
the air, with questions as to how many years the Bison
Range employees could count on remaining under tribal
supervision.
“This is a heck of a way to treat folks,”
stated Grady Hocutt, a former long-time refuge manager
who directs PEER’s refuge program, noting that employees
are in the dark as to which options are viable and for
how long. “It is totally premature to begin uprooting
families without waiting for Congress to speak.”
This agreement has been a bone of contention for most
of the past year, spurring a protest letter signed by
nearly half of the refuge managers in the country and
drawing the opposition of more than a score of conservation
groups, ranging from Ducks Unlimited to the Defenders
of Wildlife. Closed-door negotiations between Interior
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks
Paul Hoffman, a former Dick Cheney aide, and the CSKT
produced a deal that awards approximately half of the
management, jobs and funding for the National Bison Range
and the nearby Ninepipe and Pablo National Wildlife Refuges
to the Tribes. Signed in mid-December, the agreement takes
effect in 90 days unless vetoed by Congress.
The Department of Interior has listed 31 wildlife refuges
and 34 national parks where it will entertain similar
offers from tribes to take over operations but has yet
to develop any overall policy to guide its dealings. Instead,
political appointees at Interior negotiate individual
deals on an ad hoc basis.
“The principal asset of the National Wildlife Refuge
System is its people but, at Bison Range, this invaluable
asset of dedicated employees is being treated like an
expendable commodity that can be traded or discarded without
care,” Hocutt added.
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