The Interior Department abruptly canceled the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes' management contract for the National Bison Range in Montana.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sent a fax on Monday, ordering the tribe to cease all activities and remove its employees. The fax said the tribe failed to live up to the annual funding agreement and created a hostile and intimidating environment for federal employees.

"The performance of the tribes under the annual funding agreement, their execution of the work for which we are paying them, is insufficient," an agency spokesperson told the Associated Press.

The tribe signed an agreement to handle certain function at the range, which is located entirely with the Flathead Reservation. But federal employees complained that the tribe wasn't doing a good job and was treating them poorly, according to a recent evaluation report.

The tribe recently asked to negotiate to manage all functions at the range but the cancellation of the agreement means all talks are off.

Get the Story:
Agency ends tribes' bison role (AP 12/12)

Evaluation Report:
Implementation of the Annual Funding Agreement (May 2006)

Relevant Links:
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes - http://www.cskt.org
National Bison Range - http://bisonrange.fws.gov
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility - http://www.peer.org

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