Bismarck, North Dakota - News

An offer has been made that once again would allow buffalo to be moved from the Theodore Roosevelt National Park to the reservation of the Three Affiliated Tribes.

It remains an offer at this point because the tribal government would have to accept certain conditions, most pointedly one that would give National Park Service personnel free rein to make unannounced visits onto the reservation to locate the buffalo wherever they are and inspect their health and conditions of their keeping.

This provision raises the issue of Indian tribal sovereignty over reservation land in dealing with an agency of the federal government. Preserving sovereignty could be important enough to be a deal-breaker.

One choice is that the tribal government can reject the proposed agreement.

Then the tribes simply won't get the bison, about 250 of them.

There are other conditions the tribal government would have to accept concerning feed and care of the animals.

It would be a fine thing if each of the parties could accept that the other comes to the bargaining table in good faith and is not looking to do anything to harm the relationship. There could be a restoration of trust.

That trust was damaged by past allegations that buffalo from the national park were not receiving good care on the reservation and that pasturage at the time was too poor to sustain the number of animals.

The park service's response was to deny the Three Affiliated Tribes any bison from the park last year.

But it now sounds as if management problems have been taken care of so that the flow of buffalo from the south unit of the national park to Fort Berthold can resume, with the park service not having to be suspicious that the animals won't be treated well - as long as the tribal authority agrees to the inspections.

The prospect is for a win-win situation.

The park service needs to thin its buffalo herd on the south unit. The Fort Bethold buffalo project could certainly use the animals.

The park service could demonstrate that the inspections are meant to guarantee that the buffalo are being cared for, not that the feds want to intrude on the reservation. The Three Affiliated Tribes can agree to the deal, increase the tribal bison herd and demonstrate that its stewardship of the 250 head gained now will extend to those received in the future.

It sounds promising.

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