Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility wrote a letter to Secretary of Interior Gale Norton on Monday in an attempt to prevent the transfer of national parks and refuges to tribal governments. The group insists that “scarce federal refuge dollars will be given to tribes to hire contractors to fulfill the tasks that are currently being expertly administered by federal employees.” The Department of Interior is currently involved in advanced negotiations with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes to hand over the 18,800-acre National Bison Range in Montana, located entirely within tribal land. Sixty-five other parks and refuges are being considered for tribal takeovers.
