The Department of the Interior announced in the Federal Register July 26 that a land use plan and a draft environmental impact statement for the addition of land to the Havasupai Indian Reservation are now available. The Department also announced that public hearings on the land use plan will be held September 11, 12 and 14.
The Grand Canyon National Park Enlargement Act of 1975 restored to the tribe 185,000 acres of land on the rim of the canyon and also designated another 95,000 acres within the Park as a permanent traditional use area of the tribe. This land had been used for about 1,000 years by the Havasupai until about a century ago when land for their reservation was limited to 519 acres at the bottom of the canyon.
Single copies of the draft EIS and the land use plan are available from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Phoenix Area Office, 3030 North Central Ave., Phoenix, Arizona 85012 (602/261-4195).
These documents are also available for inspection in the BIA office in Washington, D.C. and at the Truxton Canyon Agency, Valentine, Arizona 86437.
Written comments on the documents should be sent to the Phoenix Area Office by September 21.
Hearings on the land use plan will be Sept. 11 at the Havasupai Tribal Council Building, Supai, Arizona; Sept. 12, Chamber of Commerce Building, Kingman, Arizona; and Sept. 14, Holiday Inn, 1000 West Highway 66, Flagstaff, Arizona.
Persons desiring to make an oral presentation at these hearings should either advise the Phoenix Area Office in advance or register prior to the 9 a.m. starting time on the date and the place of the hearing.
