From Susan Reneau, Wildlife Author, January 1, 2009
During the first week of December 2008 Mike Carter, a riffed employee of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and a older middle aged white man, was selected by the CSKT leaders to become the first tribal assistant project leader in charge of all the contract employees and most of the operational budget at the National Bison Range. I had predicted three months ago that a non-Indian man would be selected for this position, proving that the CSKT did not intend to fill these contract positions with their own people or other Indian people. During negotiations the CSKT argued with our Montana Congressional Delegation that these federal positions were vital to help “their” people secure viable employment for economic development purposes but in fact the CSKT has hired non-Indians from outside Montana to fill key positions in this agreement. Mr. Carter does not have any experience managing a national wildlife refuge yet is being paid more than the federal assistant project leader with decades of experience in the National Wildlife Refuge System. His position is inherently federal but this agreement ignores that fact of federal law. This was a new position created just for the CSKT that never existed at the NBR and has a salary level of in excess of $108,000 with benefits. The CSKT leaders wanted all positions at the NBR but since the USFWS negotiator Dean Rundle refused to give them the project leader and assistant project leader positions this fiscal year, Brian Upton, George Waters, and their crew of lawyers demanded a new tribal assistant project leader position be created, which was done.
On Monday, December 22, it was announced that no maintenance workers under the agreement would come and do work at the National Bison Range until late March or early April. Several months ago I had been told this by my CSKT informant but the CSKT leadership and their spokesperson Ron McDonald denied this would happen. Three of the best CSKT workers from the 2005-2006 agreement were not considered for this current agreement contract because they sided with the policies and work goals of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and not with the CSKT. Politically, they were blackballed by their own government from working at the NBR under the CSKT and three workers with no refuge experience will eventually come to the NBR in the spring. The remaining two maintenance workers that are U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees loaned to the CSKT under and IPA agreement will now have to perform all the maintenance duties alone without support from the three CSKT hires. Two federal workers left the NBR (one as a retirement and one as a transfer) after a cumulative experience level of more than 45 years on December 31, 2008, but their duties will not be replaced by the CSKT until the spring so their work will not get done as scheduled. As the agreement was written by CSKT lawyer Brain Upton and a stable-full of other CSKT lawyers, the CSKT will not be evaluated for a failure to perform any duties nor will the CSKT receive less money for not performing necessary duties.
Also, the maintenance workers might not arrive at all during this fiscal year of 2009 unless the CSKT are paid more money for their work since the CSKT government officials have already complained to the DOI and USFWS that the budgeted amount of money for the work these maintenance workers do “just isn’t enough” for the CSKT to make any money on it. Remember, the federal workers that performed these tasks in the past were more than willing to work for that salary or hourly wage, but not the CSKT. You will recall that on January 16, 2008 I reported to you that the highly paid chief lobbyist for the CSKT, George Waters, told me outside the secret meetings at the Hilton Gardens that if the CSKT had known how little money they would make on this deal they might not have entered into any negotiation and that the CSKT needed more money to do the work. That was BEFORE any official agreement was signed and sealed.
The head secretary position in charge of managing the financial records, paying bills, and doing payroll accounts that was vacated in early November 2008 by a highly trained federal worker with decades of experience is now replaced by a CSKT worker with no experience in this field as a transfer from another part of the CSKT government. This secretary complained that he needed an assistant to complete his work that in the past has been done by one federal worker so an assistant was authorized and financed as of December 22. The assistant secretary is a CSKT worker with no experience dealing with finances of a national wildlife refuge. The same can be said for the head secretary.
As for the lead wildlife biologist for the national wildlife refuge (a plum job at any national wildlife refuge), a non-Indian white man who recently graduated from the University of Montana was selected and with him came two bio tech workers that are also non-Indian with limited experience performing duties on a national wildlife refuge. The lead wildlife biologist and his two bio techs replace federal workers with decades of experience and advanced college degrees. These, too, are inherently federal positions and vital to the health and welfare of the wildlife and habitat of any national wildlife refuge. The previous head wildlife biologist who was a federal worker and her assistant had decades of experience between them and had advanced college degrees in wildlife management. At least one of the bio techs has no college degree.
All positions, including Mike Carter’s salary, are less than the former federal workers received and have less experience but the CSKT government is pocketing the difference in salary so taxpayers continue to pay the same amount of money for each position and inherently federal task but receive a less qualified worker for their money. As the CSKT informant told me, “It’s a shell game.” For example, if a federal worker with a Master’s Degree and 20 years of experience was paid $50,000 for a professional position, the new CSKT worker would receive $30,000 and the CSKT government would pocket $20,000 as their “fee” for managing the contract agreement.
The lawsuit filed by PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility) with eight heroic plaintiffs will receive a response from the solicitors (lawyers) of the U.S. Dept. of Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within 60 days, as required by federal law, but I predict that the solicitors will not respond to the lawsuit until the final moment. I also predict they will move to throw out the lawsuit but the federal judge will not allow this since this is a viable lawsuit. I also predict that PEER and their plaintiffs will win their case but the decision will be appealed by the DOI and USFWS to a higher court. Eventually, I predict this case will go to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Other lawsuits are likely to occur, maybe as early as this week, related to federal laws that are being broken and experienced and dedicated federal workers (scientists and technicians) that are being harmed because of this agreement with the CSKT that was ramrodded down the throats of the USFWS since February 2003 when the current round of negotiations for a new agreement began in secret.
No contract worker or special interest group, no matter who they are, should take over inherently federal positions and tasks or manage federal operational budgets, especially if they have less experience and education than the federal workers that have successfully performed those tasks for decades.
If you have not contributed to the lawsuit, please do so immediately by contributing as much as you can to this 501c3 corporation (tax deductible): PEER, 2000 “P” Street, N.W., Suite 240, Washington, D.C. 20036. You can call in a donation with a credit card at (202) 265-7337 or contribute on their website at http://www.peer.org/.
.
