OPA

The Department of the Interior today announced the addition of two new sections to the Code of Federal Regulations to provide for leasing of lands on the Colorado River Indian Reservation within the State of Arizona and the leasing of lands on the Navajo Reservation for periods up to a maximum of 99 years.

Both changes are in line with laws recently enacted by Congress.

On the Colorado River Reservation, where beneficial ownership of the lands has not been determined, the Department was given authority to lease the lands under a 1955 law which expired in 1957. Under a more recent enactment, approved June 11, 1960, authority was provided for leasing the lands in the Arizona portion of the reservation but not the much smaller acreage which lies in California. The new section of the Code will make the leasing of these lands subject to the same regulations which apply in other Indian areas.

Under previous law and regulations, leasing of lands on the Navajo Reservation of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah has been permitted for a maximum of 25 years with a 25-year renewal on nonagricultural leases, Leasing for 8S long as 99 years for nonagricultural purposes will be permitted under the new law and regulation. Authority for 99-year leasing of Indian lands has been provided only on the Navajo Reservation and the Palm Springs Reservation of California.

The new regulations will be published in the Federal Register shortly and will become effective 15 days after the date of publication.

Award of a $64,850.08 contract for construction of a 50-foot bridge and reinforced concrete box culverts on the road between U. S. Route 59 and State Highway 100, in Adair County, Oklahoma, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The road when completed will be an important asset to the Indians and other residents of the district and will serve as an important school bus route, mail route and farm-to-market road passing through heavily populated Indian lands.

The successful bidder was Frank Newell & Son, Inc., of Muskogee, Oklahoma. Three higher bids were also received.

Award of a $624,782 road construction contract that will provide an all-weather bus route to enlarged school facilities at Kayenta, Arizona, on the Navajo Indian Reservation was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The contract, which was awarded to Lyle Price of Flagstaff, covers construction and bituminous surfacing of a 19.2-mile section of road in northern Arizona between Kayenta and Utah State Highway 47 at the Utah Line.

Kayenta is an isolated trading center in the northern part of the Navajo Reservation where the present public school facility is being expanded to accommodate about 400 Navajo children in grades one through eight.

The new road is being constructed as part of the Indian Bureau's program to provide broader education opportunities for school age Indian children.

Ten other bids were received ranging in price from $655,696.75 to $975,892.93.

Acting Secretary of the Interior Hatfield Chilson announced today that the Bureau of Indian Affairs will delay until the end of the present congressional session any additional sales of Indian trust land requested by the Indian owners.

The action was taken in. compliance with a request by Senator James E. Murray in his capacity as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.

The delay will not apply on the Klamath Reservation of Oregon because the trust status of all allotted lands will terminate there next August 13 and the termination law specifically provides for departmental assistance to these Indians in the sale of their heirship lands.

In a letter of May 13 to Secretary Seaton, Senator Murray indicated that questionnaires on Indian land sales had been sent by the Committee to Indian Bureau field officers and tribal officials at each local jurisdiction with a request for return of the information by June 15. He asked for a moratorium on all land sales requested by the Indians until the Committee could complete a study and analysis of the completed questionnaires.

In a reply to Senator Murray dated May 28, Mr. Chilson emphasized the property rights of individual Indians that are involved.

“It is definitely the policy of the Department or the Bureau,” he said, “to encourage, suggest, or advise the individual Indian allottees to dispose of their land holdings. At the same time we believe that we are democratically duty bound to honor their individual property rights the same as any other American citizen.

“Imposition of an over-all moratorium for an indefinite period, Mr. Chilson added, would involve a curtailment of the property rights of individual Indians and would work a hardship on many Indian owners. Moreover, he said, the Department is hesitant to take such a step even for a limited period and is doing so only in response to Senator Murray's specific request for the balance of the present congressional session.

In his letter Mr. Chilson also called Senator Murray's attention to a May 15 statement of policy on Indian land sales by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons. The new policy, he said, will make it easier for both tribal organizations and Indian heirs to buy up lands offered for sale by Indian owners and the net effect will be to keep more of the lands in Indian ownership.

Award of a $157,300 contract for the construction of Indian school facilities at Conehatta, Mississippi, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Conehatta School, operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, has a present enrollment of 180 pupils. The new facilities will provide more adequate facilities for the present enrollment and allow the enrollment of 30 pupils not now in school due to lack of school facilities.

The contract calls for the construction of four classrooms and a kitchen multipurpose room and for the remodeling of the present school building.

The successful bidder was Central Construction Company of Philadelphia, Miss. Three higher bids ranging from $163,800 to $185,000 were received.

The award of a $439,600 contract for adding seven classrooms and a 500-seat gymnasium to an Indian school plant at Fort Yates, North Dakota was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The successful bidder was Kyburz Construction Company of Aberdeen, South Dakota. Nine higher bids ranging from $452,990 to $497,800 were received.

Standing Rock School, operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, has a present enrollment of 133 boarding and 157 day pupils in grades 1 through 12.

The new facilities will reduce the present overcrowding and provide for the normal increase in population of the area. The existing building will be remodeled to provide a modern kitchen-dining room

The Department of the Interior favors legislation that would reinvest in the Indian tribes of the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming title to the minerals in 161,500 acres previously ceded to the Federal Government, it was announced today.

In a report to Congress Assistant Secretary Roger Ernst recommended enactment of H. R. 11141, a restoration pill, with some technical and clarifying amendments.

The 161,500 acres affected by the bill were ceded to the Government by the Shoshone and Arapahoe Tribes under 1953 legislation in connection with the Riverton Reclamation Project. As agreed upon at that time, the tribes received compensation of $1,009,500 for the surface value of the lands. The minerals were made subject to disposition under the mining and mineral leasing laws of the United States with a provision that the tribes would be paid 90 percent of the gross receipts.

More recently the tribes have expressed dissatisfaction with this arrangement because they feel that competitive leasing for oil and gas development as required by law for Indian tribal lands would yield a greater return than noncompetitive leasing as applicable on the public domain. This feeling is supported, says the Department, by the fact that the Indian Bureau, prior to 1953, executed 12 competitive mineral leases on about 4,910 acres of these lands which produced a combined bonus of $727,310.

Since 1953 approximately 117,473 acres have been leased by the Bureau of Land Management and offers to lease are now pending on an additional 51,889.78 acres. The immediate effect of the bill would be to prevent further action on the pending applications, make all future leases subject to the Tribal Mineral Leasing Act of 1938, and prevent any renewals on the BLM-leased 117,473 acres at the end of the five-year primary term unless oil or gas is being produced in paying quantities at that time.

The Department has recommended modification of the latter provision to authorize extension of existing leases for five years after the date of enactment, regardless of the time remaining in the primary lease term. This recommendation was made because of expenses incurred by the lessees and because drilling operations on these lands were recently suspended by the Department for a 2 ½ year period in connection with pending litigation.

The Department also recommended an amendment to provide that the tribes should pay the cost of leasing the minerals and distributing the proceeds.

The Department of the Interior today released the text of letters from Under Secretary Elmer F. Bennett to Rep. Lee Metcalf of Montana and Rep. George S. McGovern of South Dakota on the Indian revolving loan fund. The text of the identical letters follows:

Office of Under Secretary

October 3, 1960

Dear Mr. Metcalf:

Our attention has recently been directed to a news report of an exchange of correspondence between you and Senator Kennedy. It was amazing for us to read that portions of the Indian program recommended by this Department to the Congress on June 5, 1959, more than 15 months ago, has now received your support and that of Senator Kennedy.

As you know, this Department recommended to the Congress that the Indian revolving loan fund be increased from $10 million to $25 million. This recommendation was made in connection with legislation designed to resolve the problems of Indian heirship.

We suggested legislation which would prevent the loss to Indians of important heirship lands while at the same time permitting the Indians to deal with lands or interest in lands that are now in multiple ownership. We informed the Congress that more than one-half of the 60,000 allotted Indian tracts apprising more than 13 million acres are now in multiple ownership and that an additional 2,000 estates are being probated each year. In some instances the interests of individual owners have to be expressed by fractions with denominators in the millions. Rental payable to the Indian owners of these lands sometimes amounts to only a few pennies a year and in many instances proper use cannot be made of the land because one of the joint owners is either absent or his whereabouts is unknown.

After we suggested the $15 million increase in the tribal loan fund, the House of Representatives enacted H. R. 1150 7lhieh substantially accepted our suggestions with the execution that the heirship provision was limited to the State of Minnesota rather than applicable to all of the United States. That bill was reported from the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee on May 25 end passed on June 6 in an admirable display of bipartisan interest in the welfare of our Indian citizens.

It is reported in the press that you stated “Kennedy threw his weight behind a House--approved bill to increase the authorization of the Indian Revolving Loan Fund and the bill cleared the Senate Indian Subcommittee.” We are pleased to have this expression of new interest in the welfare of our Indian citizens. Furthermore, it is unfortunate, in our opinion, if this indication of his support is correct, that he did not request the Senate to complete the action begun by the House. Certainly" with the Senate of the United States controlled by an overwhelming majority of members of the Senators political party, it would seem it Gould have been enacted. Particularly is this true since this bill passed the House without objection end, as we said previously, with bipartisan support.

In closing, let me state that we commend the expression of your interest in the problems involved in Indian Affair’s. Perhaps this much-needed legislation will reach fruition in the next session with more active leadership and coordination among those in the Congress who are interested in Indian affairs.

Sincerely yours,

(Sgd) Elmer F. Bennett

Elmer F. Bennett

Under Secretary

Honorable Lee Metcalf

Member of Congress

P. O. Box 1694

Helena, Montana

Award of a $304,785.00 contract for construction work that will nearly triple the capacity of Indian school facilities at Brad Springs, New Mexico, on the Navajo Reservation, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The project, which will enlarge the capacity of the Brad Springs day school from 32 to 90 pupils, will involve the construction of a new three-classroom building, a storage and maintenance building, and other related facilities.

The successful bidder was Wilson-Hockinson-Cantrall, of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Six other higher bids, ranging from $344,240.00 to $415,500.00 were received.

Award of a $51,625.00 contract for improving 5.7 miles of the Mineral Center Grand Portage Road, on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation, Cook County, Minnesota, was announced by the Department of the Interior today.

The project will provide all-weather transportation facilities for the residents of the Village of Grand Portage and will encourage tourist travel to this Indian village. The road also serves as a farm-to-market outlet, and mail and school bus route. It is the only road outlet for the residents of the Village.

Ulland Brothers, Inc., of Duluth, Minnesota, submitted the lowest of three bids received, the highest being for $51,625.00.