The Department of Interior has issued directions for re-establishing joint management of the National Bison Range at Moiese between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes.

A Nov. 26 memo from Assistant Interior Secretary Lyle Laverty and Dale Hall, director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, spells out how negotiations will proceed toward an Annual Funding Agreement.

A previous funding agreement was tangled in controversy. The service canceled that agreement last year, citing personnel conflicts between tribal and non-tribal employees at the refuge and a series of performance problems in the management of the refuge.

The tribal government has since steadfastly pursued negotiations for a new agreement. Tribal officials are applauding the latest direction from the Department of Interior, but at least one group has serious concerns.

A tribal press release says the directions reiterate that the bison range will remain a federally owned and administered refuge that will be managed in compliance with federal laws and regulations.

The bison herd must remain at 90 percent of its average size for the last three fiscal years and the range's $1.5 million annual budget, with 13 full-time positions that cannot change under the new direction.

"We are very pleased with these recent developments," said Tribal Chairman James Steele, Jr., in a press release. "We greatly appreciate how the action plan restores the staffing and budget for the Bison Range and makes clear that the bison herd will not be reduced below 90 percent of its recent average population unless approved by the assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks. This is good news for the bison, the range and the public. We appreciate the support of Montana's congressional delegation in making these corrections."

The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, however, assert that the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes are actually pursuing complete management authority over the refuge, in compliance with federal guidelines.

A PEER press release said that violates the concept that management of a federal refuge should be an "inherently federal" responsibility, with the threat of setting a precedent.

"Given that more than 75 national parks and wildlife refuges are eligible for similar tribal transfers, Interior needs to end its ad hoc approach and adopt a national policy on these funding agreements," said PEER executive director Jeff Ruch. "A function is either 'inherently federal' or it is not - what is inherently federal does not vary from place to place or mutate through negotiation."

Steele said bison range operations under the last annual funding agreement "had some challenges," but tribal leaders are hopeful to negotiate an improved agreement.

Ruch, however, maintains that the negotiations and a new funding agreement "will be purely about politics with the interests of wildlife having precious little to do with the outcome."

He questions how the federal government can enforce its management standards if the refuge "is under the control of a tribal government."

The tribes say that management of the bison range "at the local level" is supported by several groups, including the Hellgate Hunters and Anglers, Friends of the National Bison Range, the Bitterroot-Mission Group of the Sierra Club, the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council and the National Congress of American Indians.

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