Past News Items

The Department of the Interior announced today that the Bureau of Indian Affairs is inviting proposals by private capital for development of a full section of Indian land in the heart of Palm Springs, California.

WASHINGTON – Secretary Gale Norton today announced that the foundation established by Congress to support Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) education programs has been renamed the National Fund for Excellence in American Indian Education (NFEAIE) in a bill signed by President Bush on July 2, 2004. The foundation, designated the American Indian Education Foundation in its original legislation, felt the change was needed in order to avoid confusion with organizations having similar names.

WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) announced in August that BIE-operated K-12 day-school operations across the United States will have a uniform start date of September 16 for the 2020-2021 school year. Bureau operated residential facilities, including Off Reservation Boarding Schools (ORBS) and dormitories will only provide day-school instruction. This will avoid students traveling outside the commuting area and these students enrolled will be provided distance learning opportunities for their continuity of education.

The Department of the Interior has submitted to Congress a proposal for legislation that will eliminate numerous administrative problems that have been encountered in the sale of timber from Indian lands, Assistant Secretary Roger Ernst announced today.

WASHINGTON – Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Aurene M. Martin today announced that the Joseph K. Lumsden Bahweting Anishnabe School, a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) grant day school operated by the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Michigan, has been named a 2003 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education.

Promotion of Martin N. B. Holm to the position of Area Director at Aberdeen, South Dakota, in charge of Indian Bureau operations in North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Mr. Holm has been serving as Assistant Area Director in charge of community services at the Bureau's area office in Portland, Oregon since 1954. He will take over his new duties at Aberdeen around May 21, succeeding Benjamin Reifel who resigned March 11.

Assistant Secretary of the Interior Roger Ernst today announced proposed changes in the Federal regulations on the granting of rights-of-way across Indian lands.

The major effect of the proposed amendments would be to increase the permissible term on rights-of-way for oil or natural gas pipelines from 20 to 50 years.

The 20-year limitation, Mr. Ernst explained, was originally adopted many years ago and has become obsolete. Modern trunk pipelines, he added, are engineered to last much longer.

(WASHINGTON)- Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton today praised President Bush's intention to nominate David Anderson to serve as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. The announcement is subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate, once the official nomination is made by the President.

High bonus bids totaling over $10,000,000 for oil and gas leases on Ute Indian lands in southwestern Colorado were opened by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on September 2 at Gallup, New Mexico, Assistant Secretary of the Interior Roger Ernst announced today.

On 41 tracts of Ute Mountain tribal land, comprising 92,062.96 acres, the average bonus bid per acre was $112.53 and the total of the high bids was $10,359,671.30. On one of the tracts the bid was $539.25 per acre.

WASHINGTON – Acting Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Aurene M. Martin today announced that an employee at the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) was named as a finalist for the 2003 Service to America Medals, a national awards program to honor the groundbreaking achievements of federal employees. Special Agent John Oliveria, a Law Enforcement Agent at BIA, is one of 28 national finalists for the awards due to his work in developing initiatives to fight child abuse and sexual assault cases in American Indian communities while in federal service.