WASHINGTON - Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Economic Development - Indian Affairs George T. Skibine today announced that a major oil and gas mining lease sale conducted this week by the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Anadarko (Okla.) Agency, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST), resulted in 916 winning bids totaling $6,114,443.59. The agency is one of five within the BIA’s Southern Plains Region serving 24 federally recognized tribes in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Given its size, BLM and OST provided personnel to assist BIA agency staff with conducting the auction.
“It is my pleasure to announce that the Bureau of Indian Affairs has raised over $6 million for individual Indian and tribal landowners in this auction,” Skibine said. “I especially want to thank the Bureau of Land Management and the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians for providing support to our Anadarko Agency employees in the conduct of this operation, given its size and scope. I commend all employees involved with this auction for their hard work and commitment to making it a success.”
Four BLM employees with experience in auctioning oil and gas leases for federal lands were assigned to conduct the bidding and review bids. Seven OST staff members assigned to the BIA’s Pawnee (Okla.) Agency and Osage Agency in Pawhuska, Okla., aided in verifying deposits made by bidders and provided other assistance. OST also will handle the collection of lease payments and assist in the disbursement of funds to landowners. The BIA staff included 26 from the Anadarko Agency and two from the Bureau’s Southern Plains Regional Office, also located in Anadarko.
“Through the collaborative efforts of BIA, OST and BLM employees, the auction proceeded very smoothly,” said Southern Plains Regional Director Dan Deerinwater. “I am pleased with the tremendous effort put forth by the Anadarko Agency staff in organizing and conducting a sale of this magnitude. And, I am grateful for the assistance provided by our partners, which helped to make this event so successful.”
The sale, which was scheduled for December 2-4, 2008, involved 1,534 tracts of allotted and tribal lands located in nine counties within the Anadarko Agency’s jurisdiction. It was conducted under regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the Interior at Title 25, CFR 211 (Act of May 11, 1938, 52 Stat. 347; 25 U.S.C. 396A-F), which concerns the leasing of tribal lands. The counties are Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Grady, Kiowa, Jefferson, Stephens, Tillman and Washita.
The event was held at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City. Sealed bids were opened on December 2. For tracts that received one bid, bidders were given one opportunity to improve the bid. Tracts that received two or more bids were subject to oral auction bidding on December 3. Information about this sale, along with a listing of the tracts that were put up for bid, is available at www.doi.gov/bia/docs/2008OilGasLeaseSaleListing.pdf.
Indian trust beneficiaries who have questions about this sale, or other trust-related assets and income, may contact their Fiduciary Trust Officer (FTO) using the interactive map on the OST website at or call OST’s Trust Beneficiary Call Center at 1-888-678-6836. The call center is open Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to noon, Mountain Time.
Note to Editors: The photo of BIA employees opening, reading and recording bids that accompanies this press release may be viewed via the Interior Department’s website at www.doi.gov.
For Immediate Release: December 4, 2008
