Guest Editorial

NBR volunteer sets the record straight

By Paul Bishop

I am not a Tribal member, although I have lived on the Reservation most of my life. I am an architect and project manager, residing in Polson, Montana. My family has been involved with the Bison Range roundup for over 20 years. My father was a volunteer for 5 or 6 years before I started. I have personally attended and volunteered at every roundup for over 10 years.

As a non-member living on the Reservation, I hope I am part of a largely silent majority who appreciates what the CS&KT does for everyone in this area, not just Tribal members. From their input in the Highway 93 redesign, to the power company that provides us all with electricity, to their forest fire control capabilities, their natural resources department, social and educational programs and many other areas, the Tribes make a huge, and undervalued, contribution to everyone's quality of life here, members and non-members alike.

My previous volunteer relationship with the FWS was limited to the two or three days each year at the annual fall bison roundup. I have, from the beginning, felt that the way FWS conducted the roundup had serious problems. It was always heavy on the "cowboy" and it seemed the welfare of the bison extended only to their most basic physical needs. There was always lots of yelling, crashing gates, and stressful commotion.

As the years passed, it seemed that the bison were getting more savvy to the FWS rider's methods. More and more animals would evade the riders as they attempted to herd them into the corrals. The only FWS response was to run the animals harder, getting them even more stressed and worn out.

A common method, once all the "easy" animals had been chased in by riders, was to retire the horses and bring out a FWS jeep. The driver would then chase the remaining stubborn bison, with horn blaring, until they submitted. This sometimes involved ramming the bison with the front bumper. In 2004, the last year the FWS had sole control of the roundup, an adult bison was hit from behind by the jeep, had a rear leg broken, and had to be killed. Many times the animals would arrive in the corrals so fatigued that they could only stand panting, with their tongues hanging out and legs quivering. The FWS staff seemed to treat the bison with indifference, like they were cattle. Being just a volunteer, I did not say anything but it always bothered me.

Along with everyone else who was related to the Bison Range in any fashion, I was interested to see what changes would occur when the Tribes first assumed an active role last year. In particular, I was eager to see how the Tribes would change the status quo handling of the bison. I did not read the AFA or have any real interest in the negotiations. However I did, and still do, support the Tribes desire to assume sole management of the entire National Bison Range and its associated wetlands and preserves.

As a Lake County resident, my impression of the Tribes is very positive. I felt that they would be able to not only do a good job of the nuts and bolts biology and animal management of the Bison Range, but that they would add the cultural connection which has always been missing. Bison are more than just magnificent animals to the Tribes. They are a cultural and religious symbol that goes beyond what non-Indians can understand or appreciate.

Several weeks before last year's roundup I was contacted by the Tribes to invite me to continue at my normal volunteer position. Over the years I have worked my way through the system to the point that my stations is at the center of activity directly in front of, and next to, the tally shack. From this vantage point I can see almost all of the main activity including the cutting, corralling, and processing of the animals. The only thing I cannot see is what occurs at the squeeze chute or branding stations further up the line. The Range Manager Steve Kallin, of the Fish & Wildlife Service, stands immediately to my right, and I can easily see and hear everything that goes on at a management level.

Last year's roundup was preceded by a volunteer training day. As the date approached I heard, through various sources, that the volunteers would not be covered by insurance in case of an injury, and the rumor spread quickly. This had apparently been told to a volunteer by a FWS employee. I know that an insurance agent, who provides coverage for the Tribes, called FWS to inform them that this was incorrect, and that volunteers would be fully covered by the Tribe's insurance. I don't know how many volunteers were misinformed but I am sure it had an effect on their decision to continue to volunteer. I also heard later that the Tribes were not given any volunteer names from past roundups, in spite of their repeated requests, and thus had no way of inviting past volunteers to participate. Sheila Matt, the Tribe's NBR representative personally contacted me to encourage me to participate.

When I arrived for the training day I was warmly welcomed and thanked over and over for coming. Contrary to the reports that the Tribes drove volunteers away, I felt like the red carpet was rolled out for me in every way.

The training day began with a traditional prayer from a Tribal member, which included the safety of the animals. Previous roundups have begun with a prayer for the safety of the workers, but the bison were never mentioned. That was just one of the many ways that the Tribal presence was beginning to evidence itself.

After that, the training day was quite odd, and served as a preview of what I would observe again at the roundups for the past two years. The FWS did no instruction for the volunteers and Tribal staff who attended. Mostly it was new people and there were very few volunteers back from previous years. Particularly absent were several experienced retired FWS employees who had worked at stations near mine. I was worried about how we would be able to work the bison with a lack of experienced volunteers. By default, another past volunteer and I did the training for the 5 or 6 Tribal staff and 7 or 8 volunteers in our section because the FWS made no attempt to.

Everyone was and excited to be there, they learned their jobs quickly and the roughly half-day training went very well. The Tribal staff and volunteer riders handled the bison like experts, and the volunteer corral operation went smoothly. My recollection is that we processed around 30 head before calling it a day. I left feeling very positive about the upcoming roundup, but troubled by the FWS attitude.

The full roundup occurred shortly after the training day, maybe a week or two later. The refusal of FWS staff to assist in any task that they could label "Tribal" was very obvious. Again, in our key area, my one other experienced volunteer and I provided the guidance as to how to conduct the corralling operation. This involves moving the bison progressively through a series of reinforced gates and chutes. It is tricky work in which key decisions must be constantly made involving the welfare and safety of the animals. Often a large bull bison will enter the corral system with smaller cows or even new calves. These animals must be carefully separated into different areas to keep them from hurting, or even killing, each other. I was surprised that the FWS did not take a more active role, and I heard a lot of "that's the Tribe's job" when FWS was asked about what to do. Now, when I read the newspaper or hear on the radio the FWS "worked closely" with the Tribes and provided "detailed instructions" it does not square with what I saw and experienced first hand. From what I have seen, the FWS claims to have "made efforts to assist the Tribes" and "we figured the advice would be welcome" are wishful thinking at best, and outright fabrications at worst.

At least two former volunteers were in attendance, carrying clipboards. At the start of the day one of them asked me "where's your clipboard" and I realized that he was there not to help but to evaluate the Tribe's performance,. What surprised me was his assumption that I was there to do the same. He looked a little confused when I told him I was there to do my normal job.

Although past FWS roundups were normally scheduled for two days, it became a standard practice for many years that a third day was always needed to complete the work and I always planned on volunteering for three full days. However, in spite of the FWS staff's "hands-off" attitude, the Tribe's first roundup was a huge success which was completed in two days with time to spare. I know it sounds odd, but I believe the animals noticed a difference too. They were clearly much calmer and less stressed. The riders did a fantastic job of handling the animals with care and everyone else followed suit. The bison were processed though with a level of compassion and patience that was definitely lacking in the old FWS cowboy days.

In spite of this success, I did not see or hear any positive comments or encouragement towards the Tribal staff from FWS staff. Having automatically planned on a third day, I didn't have anything scheduled for Wednesday that week, so I went back to the range to see if I could help with loading out animals or anything else. When I arrived, the Tribal staff members were discussing the roundup in their trailer office behind the visitor center. Shortly after I arrived Steve Kallin walked in and said one sentence to the affect that "that went pretty well" and moved immediately to discussing other issues. There was no further discussion or debriefing of the roundup, only a few instructions on what was to happen next. I am sure my jaw dropped as I listened to him gloss over the Tribe's huge achievement. When he left I told the staff "I am not sure why he won't tell you this, but that was the best roundup in the last ten years, maybe ever". It is really ironic that the first praise and congratulations due the Tribal staff had to come from someone like me, and not the FWS managers.

As with past years, I went back to my normal life and didn't really think about the Bison Range until roundup time rolled around again.

This year's round up was largely a replay of the last, although it took the full three days. The FWS continued their hands off relationship, and I could see that tensions were higher between some people than last year. The FWS biologist was particularly agitated. She snapped at several Tribal staff members and I heard her say several times "that's not my job" or "talk to the Tribes" when asked about how to set something up or prepare for some aspect of the roundup. I don't want to over dramatize the events, but I do need to clearly stress that the level of condescending and insulting behavior by several FWS staff towards the Tribal staff was very obvious. When the allegations of harassment between FWS and Tribal employees first came to light recently I was surprised to learn that it was FWS employees who were feeling harassed. Based on my limited exposure to the interactions of those two groups of people I had assumed that it was the other way around.

During the roundup I saw Range Manager Kallin abruptly stop everything, in front of the packed visitor gallery on the catwalk, and dress down Tribal employees TJ Haynes and Tom McClure for making a mistake which allowed a bison to be sent back to the range instead of the squeeze chute. TJ immediately responded, in a matter of fact manner, that Kallin had told them exactly what to do with that animal and that it was in fact Kallin's mistake. Kallin did not say anything, turned and went back to his station. It was obvious, from my vantage point just a few feet away, that he was visibly angered by TJ's refusal to be blamed, in front of the public, for something TJ did not do.

One complaint I have heard repeated publicly is that the Tribe's involvement slows down the roundup. In fact it is the increasing amount of biological and animal health work being done with the bison that has slowed the pace. Often the Tribal staff and volunteers just stand around waiting for the animals to be processed through the specialized treatment and study stations coordinated and controlled by the FWS.

The pace was also affected this past year by many animals being afflicted with "pink eye" which apparently is a condition caused by eye irritation from dry grass while the bison graze. A former Bison Range employee, still with the FWS elsewhere, was discussing this with Steve Kallin and I heard Kallin say "that's the Tribe's range management at work", and then they both chuckled. Obviously the Tribes have no control over this, but Kallin's attitude was obvious.

The bison were pretty crafty this year, and started to elude the riders almost immediately. The Tribal and volunteer riders modified their tactics several times with success. More importantly they changed their attitude as well. Rather than just chasing the herd over and over, as the FWS had done in years past, they began to use completely different methods which employed patience and some basic bison psychology. This resulted in several groups of very stubborn and cantankerous bison actually walking into the corral system. For anyone who has ever watched a roundup, that is almost unbelievable. Finally, the riders used a completely different tactic, which has never been employed before in my experience at the Bison Range, to gently coax the last group of really difficult bison into the corral system from an entirely different entrance. Nearly everyone who watched was very impressed with the Tribal and volunteer riders creativity and achievement, but the FWS staff just looked on silently. I did not stay for any debriefing or FWS discussions, so I don't know what was said to the Tribal staff after the roundup. But, based on my experience, the 2006 roundup was a success, largely due to the Tribe's involvement.

As a volunteer with a many years of past experience in a key role, under both FWS and Tribal control, I could not be happier with the changes that the Tribal involvement has brought to the annual round-up, and I am dismayed and insulted by the way the Tribe's have been portrayed by the FWS in the news media. The misinformation and outright fabrications being put forth by the FWS only serve to cloud the very real issue of whether the Tribes are qualified to manage any or all of the National Bison Range. If the Tribes are not allowed to continue it needs to be because of actual performance issues, which are evaluated on a level playing field. That is not happening now.

If the Tribal staff has to deal with the same treatment over the whole year that I witnessed during the past two roundups the only description of the FWS staff's behavior that I can use is "shameful". I realize that the evaluation of the AFA should be based on things like facts and performance, but the condescending and paternalistic behavior exhibited by FWS Range Manager Steve Kallin, and other Bison Range FWS staff towards the Tribal staff cannot be ignored. And I cannot imagine what it must have been like for the Tribal staff to work under this burden for the past two years. I hope that the events of recent days serve as a starting point for a legitimate relationship between the Tribes and the FWS and that any future AFA evaluation process can be conducted on a higher plain than what has occurred. At the very least it seems fair that the Tribes continue at the NBR for at least another year before any binding evaluation is made.

I also feel that FWS Range Manager Steve Kallin has purposefully created an environment of distrust, animosity, and misinformation. The FWS, under his direction, has sought to try the Tribes in the court of public opinion, while doing everything in their power to sabotage the co-management relationship behind the scenes. No matter what happens with the negotiations, his credibility has been so damaged that he cannot legitimately remain as a key part of the FWS management at the Bison Range.

The only clear course of action is for Range Manager Kallin to be reassigned to another FWS location so that a new, and better qualified, administrator can be brought in who can oversee a fair and balanced assessment of the Tribe's capabilities.

The National Bison Range is a tremendous National treasure. The animals that live there deserve better than they have received from the Federal Government. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have had a relationship with bison for thousands of years, and I think it is time that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service learned a few things from the Tribes, instead of the other way around.