Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T L Y M O N T A N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 2 102 by the federal government on reservations and run them themselves. The tribe had established a long history of progressive, successful resource and wildlife management over the years. So with the passage of the ISDEAA, the Bison Range seemed like an exact fit for what the legislation was addressing. It was in the middle of a reservation, the tribe had historical, cultural and geographic ties to it, and it just made sense. Despite the logic of the request to turn the management over to the tribe, negotiations, distrust, misunderstandings, progress, regress, and accusations would go on for another 27 years. Finally, on December 27, 2020, the President signed Public Law 116-260, formally transferring the Bison Range back to federal trust ownership for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. The main conditions that came with the transfer is for the tribe to continue to manage and maintain the acreage for bison and to keep access open to the general public, which they most certainly are doing. Big changes are on the horizon for the Bison Range, ac- cording to Rich Janssen, head of the CSKT Department of Natural Resources, which now oversees the management of the Bison Range. At the moment, the tribe is consulting with the Tribal Council, the elders, the Salish and Kootenai Culture Committees and the general tribal membership on a wide variety of ideas that are under consideration. However, these can be condensed into two main areas. First, now that the Bison Range is being fully managed by the tribe, there is no federal money coming in to pay for any of the work that goes into running the range. In the past, U.S. taxpayers footed the bill through the U.S. Fish and Wild- life Services (USFWS). So far, little has changed at the Bi- son Range. The daily entrance fee is still $10/car and a year permit is only $20. The previous USFWS signs have been re- placed with CSKT signage, such as the signs at the entrance to the range, as well as those around the visitor's center. In order to be economically self-sufficient, the tribe will BIG CHANGES ARE ON THE HORIZON FOR THE BISON RANGE, ACCORDING TO RICH JANSSEN, HEAD OF THE CSKT DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES Bison Range with Mission Mountains

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