Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay announced today he had signed two orders adjusting prices received by the Warm Springs Indians for the sale of timber on their reservation.
Under the order the Indians will receive approximate1y $250,000 additional income each year for the timber cut.
The Warm Springs Lumber Company will henceforth pay $26 a thousand board feet as compared to $16 it now pays. The Philip Dahl Company will pay $18 a thousand board feet instead of the $13 it now pays.
Early in March Secretary McKay said representations had been made to him that under the terms of the sales contracts the Indians have with the lumber companies the prices are to be adjusted in keeping vitl1 economic conditions in the lumber industry.
The Indians were represented as believing their timber justified a higher price.
Secretary McKay said the way to learn the facts in the case was to hold a hearing in Oregon, He sent Commissioner Glenn Emmons) Bureau of Indian Affairs; J. Reuel Armstrong, special assistant to the Solicitor; and William Guernsey, assistant director, Bureau of Land Management, to Oregon to ascertain the facts.
The Secretary held the adjustment which increased the price for the Indian timber becomes necessary principally because the average price index for Ponderosa pine in the Oregon area has shown a marked increase since the last adjustment.
It should be understood, Secretary McKay said, that the pattern set in the Warm Springs case is not to be considered a precedent in any similar cases involving sales of timber owned by Indians. Each such case will be decided on its own merits, he said.
