Action taken by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe of Nevada to develop a major recreation center on their reservation 30 miles from Reno has been approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, it was announced today.
Private developers throughout the Nation are invited to submit proposals for a water-oriented vacation and residential center on the shores of one of the last large undeveloped lakes in the Nation.
Pyramid Lake is a 175-square-mile body of water within a half million acre reservation owned by the Paiute Indians. The lake is in one of the Nation's fastest-growing recreation areas, located close to the vacation resorts of Lake Tahoe, Squaw Valley and Reno. New superhighways link this part of Nevada with the major western population centers. The pressure for recreational use of the lake has grown rapidly over the past 10 years.
The Department of the Interior has approved a water resource development program which has as a principal objective providing as much water as feasible for the preservation and enhancement of Pyramid Lake and its trout fishery. This program will be undertaken as part of the Washoe Project, originally authorized in 1956, for development by Interior's Bureau of Reclamation of the water resources of the Truckee and Carson River basins in Nevada and California.
One of the Paiute Tribe's major objectives is to secure job opportunities and job-training programs for its members. The area has been designated as eligible for Federal aid by the Area Redevelopment Administration. On-the-job training contracts and business development loan aids are available under this legislation.
The Tribe is offering up to 3,500 acres of its prime waterfront land for development under a long-term lease. Federal law presently limits the term to 50 years, but the Department and the Tribe have requested the 89th Congress to extend this period to facilitate financing by private lending institutions.
A brochure describing the development possibilities, and a lease agreement form are available from the Tribal Council, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, Nixon, Nevada; and the Nevada Indian Agency, Stewart, Nevada.
