Corey Ducharme with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service drives bison toward the monitoring station during the annual roundup at the National Bison Range on Monday morning. In recent years, motorized vehicles have replaced horseback riders. (LINDA THOMPSON/Missoulian)
MOIESE – Bison thundered through a driving rain and down a hillside here Monday morning, their hoof beats indicating that no matter what happens in courtrooms a continent away, the annual October roundup at the National Bison Range will go on.
This one did so with the help of half a dozen people who lost their jobs at the National Wildlife Refuge less than a week ago because of a judicial decision.
Six Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes employees were among the 25 or so people working to round up the animals, collect biological data and monitor the health of the herd.
Except on Monday, they weren’t CSKT employees. They became “emergency U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hires” who returned at the request of the agency, and with the knowledge of the District of Columbia Court that last week effectively terminated their jobs by rescinding a federal agreement with the tribes.
Tags: buffalo post, Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, CSKT, Fish and Wildlife Service, Flathead Indian Reservation, FWS, Jeff King, National Bison Range, National Environmental Policy Act, Native American news, PEER, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility