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Tribes file appeal to clear name

PABLO - The Tribes have filed an administrative appeal to correct the record about statements made regarding Tribal management of the National Bison Range (NBR).

The CSKT filed the appeal with the Interior Board of Indian Appeals, requesting that it vacate U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Regional Director Mitch King's Dec. 11, 2006 decision to terminate the contracting agreement at the NBR.

Correcting the record of facts is crucial to the Tribes, according to a Jan. 16 press release.

"People who oppose the Tribal presence at the Bison Range can only coast on unsupported allegations for so long," said Tribal Chairman James Steele, Jr. "This has been a classic echo chamber - instead of talking with us about allegations, a number of individuals within the Fish & Wildlife Service just recycle the allegations in various memos and reports until they appeared factual. The Tribes need to correct the record of our performance at the Bison Range and we will do so through the administrative process."

According to the news release, there's been a pattern developing in which FWS staff allegations surface when it appears that the Tribes are making progress towards a new contracting agreement for the NBR.

Last fall, when some FWS employees heard that the Service was considering a proposal for CSKT to assume full local management of the bison range, a mysterious grievance was suddenly filed that alleged CSKT staff were creating a hostile work environment.

The requested relief was for the agreement between the FWS and CSKT to be terminated - not the normal solution for addressing a hostile workplace, the release states. The FWS has never provided a copy of the allegations to CSKT. Tribal officials have repeatedly requested the information.

"One would think that some mention of these mysterious allegations, or the alleged hostile workplace, would have surfaced sometime during the previous year and a half of the Tribes' presence at the Bison Range," said Chairman Steele. "There was certainly a great deal of scrutiny towards the Tribal workers' performance. Yet, strangely, there was no mention of a hostile workplace or any other significant personnel issues during that whole time."

Now, on the heels of a Dec. 29 announcement that the Department of the Interior would re-establish the partnership between the FWS and CSKT, more allegations have suddenly surfaced.

This time, according to the Jan. 16 press release, more documents full of allegations but short on facts are being released by individuals and organizations who have always opposed the Tribes' presence at the NBR.

This latest round of accusations again attempts to portray tribal staff as creating a hostile work environment for their federal supervisors at the bison range. "This has been a surreal and at times hurtful experience for the Tribal staff at the Bison Range," said Tribal Communications Director Rob McDonald. "The very people who have made our work at the Bison Range so difficult are now claiming that we created a hostile workplace for them."

"Anyone who examines the record will see that FWS has no solid reason for not sharing the allegations with CSKT," Tuesday's news release states. "Not having the allegations has prevented the Tribes (from responding), that is if a problem ever truly existed.

"The Interior Department has looked at these draft investigation documents and seen them for what they are. The Department's Office of Civil Rights has ordered that the grievance allegations be investigated by the Department's Equal Employment Opportunity counselors who are completely independent of FWS. CSKT welcomes a neutral third-party investigation, and we have been in contact with the EEO counselor assigned to investigate this issue."

The Tribes have also communicated with the Department's Office of the Inspector General, with respect to its investigation.

"We look forward to working with the EEO and OIG investigators and correcting the record so we can repair the damage done to CSKT's reputation," said Chairman Steele.

The Jan. 16 press release lists the following issues that have yet to be discussed by any of the newly-released documents:
• Prior to CSKT being abruptly ejected from the Bison Range in December, the Regional Director made no effort to share with CSKT the allegations upon which he acted. There was no opportunity provided for CSKT to correct or rebut those allegations. Other than what is discussed in the newly-released documents, CSKT still does not know the exact basis of the allegations.
• In an exhaustive 2005 "evaluation" written by FWS staff at the Bison Range, there are no allegations of anything like harassment, intimidation, discrimination, or a hostile work environment. These allegations suddenly appeared in the fall of 2006 after some FWS employees learned of a proposal for CSKT to assume full local management of the Bison Range. Rather than sharing these allegations with CSKT for investigation and response, the FWS Regional Office instead decided to terminate the agreement with no notice to CSKT.
• CSKT's Bison Range Coordinator, Sheila Matt, who supervises all the Tribal staff and volunteers, has eight years of service on Equal Employment and Civil Rights Advisory Committees during her previous position as a federal employee. In that capacity, she received a great deal of equal employment opportunity training and also received awards and recognition for her work in that field. Prior to taking the job as CSKT's Bison Range Coordinator, she was a consultant for the State of Montana and made presentations on equal employment opportunity issues.