Coalition Petitions Department of Interior for Public-trust Wild Bison on CMR Refuge

 

 

The Montana Wild Bison Restoration Coalition has petitioned Secretary of Interior Haaland and the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service to preemptively restore bison on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, with or without the state’s blessing. Major portions of the letter are presented here.

The Montana Wild Bison Restoration Coalition is a non-profit organization with supporters from across the nation. We are focused on restoring public-trust, wild bison on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge and nearby public and private lands where bison are accepted. Last year, we submitted a proposal to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks for a test reintroduction of bison to the Refuge, as a coordinated state/Fish & Wildlife Service project. That proposal has been rendered moot by state actions. Wordings in quotes below are taken from the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act (1997).

This year, the Montana legislature and governor have ignored majority public opinion and rejected any state participation in a bison restoration project for the foreseeable future. New Montana bison law even denies the FWS definition of “wildlife” in 5(7) of the Refuge System Improvement Act. These actions follow decades of Montana obstinacy toward bison restoration, even on federal lands. They confirm that, for bison restoration, “timely and effective” cooperation and coordination with the state has been demonstrated as “impracticable”, justifying preemptive action by the Fish & Wildlife Service to fulfill the mission of the Refuge System to “benefit the general American public”.

The mission of the Refuge System and goals of the Russell Refuge Plan cannot be fulfilled without restoring wild bison as a keystone, public-trust species on the Refuge.

We request a reintroduction of plains bison to the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge under the preeminent role of the FWS, with or without the state’s blessing. Since the 2012 Refuge Plan offered leadership of such a project to the state, a new analysis, amending the 2012 Plan, under the National Environmental Policy Act is likely necessary. Further delay is not justified. This NEPA process should summon appropriate national attention.

We request a federal, public-trust bison herd managed by the Fish & Wildlife Service, ultimately including federal management of public bison hunting on the Refuge. Goals of the project should conform to the mission of the Refuge System and goals of the Department of Interior Bison Conservation Initiative. Moreover, the CMR Refuge is the largest Refuge within the historic range of plains bison. For this and other reasons, it is a unique, irreplaceable opportunity to satisfy needs for a large, wild herd on a large, diverse landscape, as recognized by the DOI Bison Conservation Initiative.

Details of the restoration should be determined largely by FWS and USGS biologists and managers, including population geneticists, with public advice and comment. An adaptive management approach should be used. In particular, once the founding population is well-established, innovative hunting seasons and regulations should be tested by FWS, to provide for safe, quality hunting and practicable carcass processing and transport.

We are aware that Fish & Wildlife Service has received a proposal developed in 2020 by the National Wildlife Federation for a Tribal-trust bison herd on the Refuge. We appreciate Tribal viewpoints, but believe this proposal would complicate fulfilling goals and administrative requirements of the Refuge System and may conflict legally with its broader mission. We need a public-trust wild bison herd on the Russell Refuge to fulfill the egalitarian mission of the Refuge System, particularly under mandates of the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act, to benefit the general American public, including Native Americans.