The Department of the Interior today invited lease proposals on two tracts of undeveloped Indian land in Nevada with a total shore frontage of nearly 14 miles on Pyramid Lake, an inland body of deep-blue fresh water in a desert-mountain setting.
The lands are on the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation about 33 miles north of Reno and offer excellent possibilities for business recreational or residential development.
One of the tracts comprises about 3,880 acres with a frontage of approximately seven miles on the southwest shore on Pyramid Lake. The other consists of approximately 31 200 acres and has about 6.4 miles of frontage on the southeast side of the Lake. They are to be leased separately and bidders interested in both must submit a separate bid for each.
The leases are to be for 25 years with an option for 25-year renewal.
Interested parties are invited to write the Superintendent, Nevada Indian Agency Stewart 1 Nevada. He will provide full details and a copy of the lease form that is to be used. Each bid must be accompanied by the following:
1. A preliminary planned schedule of general development. This is to include proposed annual development expenditures over the first five years of the lease term.
2. A proposal for the payment of a fixed annual ground rental. This is to be submitted as one amount for the entire area and not on a per-acre basis.
3. A proposal for the payment of a percentage of the gross income from commercial and recreational operations. Hotels, motels, apartment buildings and trailer or mobile home tracts should be included with commercial and recreational operations.
4. A proposal for the payment of minimum annual rental for residences apart from those specified in 3 above.
Bids will be received at the Nevada Indian Agency in Stewart until 2 p.m., PDT, June 26, 1959. Each bid must be accompanied by a cashier's check or certified check made payable to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the amount of the bidder's proposed ground rental for the first year.
The award will be made to the highest responsible bidder on each tract, rental and all other factors considered, provided the bid is reasonable and it is to the interest of the Pyramid Lake Indian Tribe, beneficial owner of the property and the United States, as trustee of the property, to accept it.
Offering of the Pyramid Lake lands for long-term leasing was made possible by the Act of August 9, 1955 (69 stat. 539) which authorized leasing of Indian lands for terms up to 25 years with a possibility of a 25-year renewal. Under previous law such leases were generally limited to a five-year term.
