Refuge Watch has reported about the ongoing controversy regarding the involvement of the Consolidated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in the management of the National Bison Range Wildlife Refuge in Montana. From May 15 through June 15, 2012, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service accepted comments on an Environmental Assessment, which will be prepared regarding the interest of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to enter into an Annual Funding Agreement with the Department of the Interior, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, for operations and maintenance of certain programs and activities of the National Bison Range Complex located on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

One group that opposes allowing the tribes to take over management duties at the Bison Range (and worries about its long-term implications for other refuges and national parks) is the Blue Goose Alliance, which is composed of many former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees. In comments they submitted for this action, they stated:

The Blue Goose Alliance believes that the CSKT’s involvement as proposed in the draft AFA is so extensive, as to effectively preempt Federal officials’ decision-making processes. The number of federal employees available to oversee the project is insufficient to assure that ...

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