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Interior Secretary Cecil D. Andrus and Edward E. Hopson, Sr., President of the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation in Alaska, today signed an agreement conveying land to the Arctic Slope Eskimos mandated by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971.

"In addition to resolving major land issues, this agreement "is the first in the history of the Native Claims Settlement Act in which private lands are placed under the Endangered Species Act," Andrus noted

Features of the pact include:

Facilitating environmentally sound oil and gas development in the arctic which could lead to exploratory drilling within a year;

Consolidating land ownership patterns around the village of Anaktuvuk Pass within the boundaries of the Gates of the Arctic National Monument, thus facilitating Federal management and -reducing operating costs of both the monument and the Native lands;

Reducing private inholdings within Gates of the Arctic National Monument by more than 115,000 acres, thus saving the Federal government substantial costs of land acquisition; and

Land use restrictions along the Colville River to protect one of the more important breeding grounds for the Peregrine Falcon in North America.

The signing concludes six months of intensive negotiations concerning the conveyance and exchange of lands within the Kurupa Lake, Killik River and other areas of the Arctic Slope Region.

“Our Native Corporation will now move to develop the mineral potential of our lands and, hopefully, lessen our Nation's dependence on foreign energy," Hopson said.

He added that "the agreement to protect the falcon in the Arctic shows the ability of the Department of the Interior and a major landowner to allow resource exploration and development and yet to pay attention to the concerns for its wildlife, environment and culture. “

Interior Secretary Cecil D. Andrus today announced he was cOITU11-itting the Department to participate in efforts for salmon rearing and other cooperative action to attempt to reverse the decline in the salmon and steelhead fisheries on the Klamath and Trinity Rivers in Northern California.

In a letter to Huey D. Johnson, Secretary for Resources in California Andrus said:

"Over the past year I have had the opportunity to review your proposals for cooperative efforts involving the Department, the California Resources Agency, Indians and other interested parties to restore the fishery resource and rehabilitate the watershed in the Klamath Trinity Basin.

“I am convinced that only through such cooperative action involving those interests can we hope to reverse the tragic decline in the salmon and steelhead fisheries, prevent further degradation of the habitat, and restore these resources to their former levels.”

Andrus noted that Johnson's efforts to obtain $250,000 in State funds for fiscal year 1979-80 to share in the costs of salmon rearing and watershed rehabilitation activities were indicative of Johnson's personal commitment to the protection of these valuable resources.

"I sincerely hope that the California legislature will now take the final steps necessary to insure these funds are provided in the State's budget," Andrus said.

The federal government's trust responsibility to the Indians of the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation provide an additional incentive for participation by the Interior Department in the Klamath-Trinity salmon restoration program, Andrus said.

“I have committed the Department, he said, "to respond to the concern for the resources expressed by you, Indians of the Reservation, and others and to participate in the proposals for salmon rearing and watershed rehabilitation."

The Department has allocated $207,500 for fiscal year 1979 for initial salmon restoration activities, Andrus said. These funds will provide for construction and maintenance of salmon rearing ponds with a capacity for 400,000 juvenile salmon, help meet the costs of caring for the salmon at other fish-rearing facilities, and be used by the Indians of the Reservation to hire a biologist to assist them in determining the timing and size of the salmon runs.

The Interior Department published its 1979 regulations for fishing conservation on parts of the Klamath and Trinity Rivers in Northern California March 20. The regulations include a ban on Indian commercial fishing on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation and other measures designed to reduce fish harvesting.

This year's salmon runs are dangerously low as the result of the 1976 drought which has seriously affected fish runs from California to Alaska.

Proposed regulations establishing procedures for Indian tribes seeking to form tribal constitutions or charters or make changes in existing ones are being published in the Federal Register, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today.

The purpose of the new regulations is to provide uniformity and order in holding elections, authorized by the Secretary of the Interior, to vote on constitutions and bylaws or charters. The proposed regulations will make this single set of regulations applicable to tribes, including those in Oklahoma and Alaska, row governed by three different sets of regulations, published and unpublished.

A significant change, introduced by the proposed regulations, is that petitioning by tribal members will no longer be recognized as a way to initiate a tribal reorganization. The process, under the proposed regulations, can only be initiated by a valid request from a tribe's governing body or a representative committee. The purpose of this change is to require tribal members to world through their government rather than around it. The petitioning process remains valid where tribal constitutions recognize it arid where the Indian Reorganization Act provides for it as the means whereby the Secretary of the Interior may be requested to issue a charter of incorporation.

Related proposed regulations, being published at the same time in the Federal Register., establish procedures for the formulation and submission of petitions in situations where this process is valid according to the tribal constitution or certain Federal statutes.

Comments on the proposed regulations should be sent within 30 days to the Office of Indian Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 18th and C Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240. For additional information contact Robert Farring at the above address (202-343-2511).

Interior Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard announced today that an agreement has been reached with the All Indian Pueblo Council to transfer the senior high programs (10th, 11th and 12th grades) of the Albuquerque Indian School (AIS) to the campus of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe.

Gerard said that the IAIA program would be continued at Santa Fe this year, under its own separate administration, for returning second year students only. This would allow the post-secondary school's students to complete their normal two-year program. No new students would be enrolled.

According to the agreement with AIPC, AIS programs for approximately 200 students in the 7th, 8th and 9th grades would remain at the Albuquerque campus this school year.

Gerard said that he would establish a review team to analyze the educational programs of the Institute and its future location.

The art institute, established in 1962, had been a high school with a post-secondary art program. The high school program, however, had been phased out and enrollment at the junior college level had remained low. This spring the school was operating at less than half of capacity with consequent high per student costs.

The Albuquerque Indian School, started in 1881, was operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as an off-reservation boarding school for Indians from various tribal groups, mostly from the Southwest. Since 1977 the school has been operated by the All Indian Pueblo Council under contract with the Bureau and has served a predominantly Pueblo student body. The buildings and facilities on the Albuquerque campus are generally quite old and would need replacement or renovation if the school were to continue operations there.

CORRECTION CORRECTION CORRECTION

The second paragraph of the press release issued July 11 announcing that the Institute of American Indian Art and the Albuquerque Indian School would share the facilities and campus at Santa Fe contained inaccurate information.

The Institute of American Indian Art will continue its normal two year postsecondary program in 1979-80 and will recruit and enroll new students as it has in the past.

Senior high school programs of the Albuquerque Indian School will be transferred to the Santa Fe campus. The two schools will maintain separate faculties and administrations

Interior Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard has issued guidelines to the BlA's Minneapolis Area Director for dealing with certain issues raised by recent actions of the Red Lake Tribal Council.

Referring to the Council's removal from office of the elected tribal treasurer, Stephanie Hanson, Gerard stressed that he regarded "the matter as one that should primarily be resolved within the framework of tribal governmental processes."

Emphasizing that the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs were committed to the concept of tribal self-government and allowing the internal processes of tribal government to work, Gerard said the maximum degree of tribal self-government will be realized only if all parties understand the basis and circumstances under which the BIA, on behalf of the United States, has a legitimate reason for becoming involved in tribal government actions.

In the Red Lake, Minnesota situation, where civil unrest this spring following tribal council action in removing the treasurer resulted in more than $4 million in property damage and loss of life, Gerard said the Department considers the Red Lake Band's Constitution, like other tribal governing documents, to be a delegation of authority from the people to those elected to govern the band.

Because of the government-to-government relationship between the tribe and the United States, the approval by the Secretary of the Interior on behalf of the United States of the band's constitution represents an agreement between the band and the U.S. And Gerard pointed out that this includes a provision that the exercise of tribal government authority shall not conflict with the band's constitution or existing Federal laws.

One of the Federa11aws is the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 and in the Martinez decision the Supreme Court ruled the Federal courts do not have authority to pass on the validity of a tribe's ordinance. Under Martinez individuals alleging violations of the ICRA by tribal governments cannot look to the Federal courts for relief. And as a matter of policy, Gerard said, the BIA will not provide a forum for individuals who allege violations of the ICRA by tribal governments. He said the policy 'as based on the fact that the Congress considered and rejected a proposal to provide administrative relief by the Department of the Interior and the fact that the Supreme Court in Martinez said: "tribal forums are available to vindicate rights created by the ICRA."

Gerard said when the BIA or the Department of the Interior has reason to believe that the tribal government may be acting in violation of its constitution, a decision must be made whether to become involved, when to become involved, how to evaluate the tribal action, and what to do to correct violations.

Gerard told the Minneapolis Area Director Ed Demery that the questions about Red Lake must be answered initially by the Bureau officials on the site.

He said the government's relationship with the Red Lake Band has been affected by the tribal council action in removing the treasurer, since the council has designated a new treasurer and asked the Bureau to recognize that person for the purpose of receiving tribal trust funds and for negotiating a P.L. 93-638 contract.

Gerard also instructed Demery to work with the Department's Field Solicitor to evaluate the action of the tribal council, to see if the governing body made a reasonable effort to comply with the terms of the constitution and whether the council action has a rational basis terms of the band's constitution.

If the BIA finds to its satisfaction that the tribal constitution has been violated by the council, Gerard said, as a matter of policy the Department and the Bureau are ready to impose whatever political and legal sanctions are at their command. He went on to say that it was not necessary to "exhaustively state what these sanctions are, but they include not recognizing the tribal governing body as being legitimately constituted."

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has been recruiting to fill 45 clerical and professional positions in its Central Office of Indian Education in Washington, D.C., Director Earl Barlow announced today.

Barlow said that the openings have been created by a reshaping and strengthening of the BIA's central education office to meet current education needs of Indians and Alaska Natives.

Eight vacancy announcements for positions of GS-11to GS-15 levels were issued July 9 and the remaining 37 are expected to be issued before the end of the month.

There are positions to be filled, Barlow said, in elementary and secondary education, post-secondary education, education of the exceptional child, student support services, planning and program development and administrative support. They include jobs for clerk-typists, clerk-stenos, analysts, education specialists and supervisory education specialists.

Qualified Indian applicants will be given preference in filling all these positions.

Further information about the specific positions and qualifications requirements may be obtained from local Bureau of Indian Affairs offices or by writing to the Branch of Personnel Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 18th and C Streets, NW, Washington, D.C. 20240 (202 343-7581).

Interior Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard has announced that Sidney L. Mills, Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Albuquerque Area, will serve as Acting Deputy Commissioner of Indian Affairs, beginning July 30.

In this capacity Mills will direct the day-to-day operations of the Bureau of Indian Affairs until, the announcement says, "the appointment of a Commissioner takes place."

Mills replaces Martin E. Seneca, who has been the acting BIA head since October, 1978. Seneca has announced his intention to resign from the Bureau as of September 30, 1979. He will return to his former position as Director of Trust Responsibilities July 30.

Gerard said that he asked Mills to assume the duties as Acting Deputy Commissioner prior to Seneca's resignation "in order to effect an orderly transition." He expressed appreciation to both Seneca and Mills "for their extra measure of performance."

Mills, an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, was Executive Assistant to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs prior to his appointment in Albuquerque in March of 1978.

A Navy veteran, Mills, 54, entered Federal service in 1973 in the Aberdeen, South Dakota Area Office. He was the Supply and Contract Officer and, for almost a year, the Acting Deputy Area Director before transferring to Washington, D.C., in August 1975. He had previously been Purchasing Manager for the Great Western Sugar Company; Merchandise Control Manager, Creative Merchandising Inc.; and Purchasing Manager for Sundstrand Aviation, all in Denver, Colorado.

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.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has announced that final regulations to implement the provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (P.L. 95- 608) are being published in the Federal Register.

The Act deals with the proper care of Indian children needing adoptive or foster home care. Its main objective is to restrict .the placement of Indian children by non-Indian social agencies in non-Indian homes and environments.

The Act makes clear that tribal courts have jurisdiction over children who live or whose permanent home is on reservations. For other Indian children it provides for the transfer of jurisdiction from state courts to tribal courts, absent the showing of good cause why a case should not be transferred. The regulations include a separate part on tribal resumption of jurisdiction over child custody proceedings in those instances where states have assumed jurisdiction according to federal law.

The new regulations will become effective 30 days after publication

Numerous comments and suggestions were received by the Bureau after publication this spring of proposed regulations. An explanation of changes made in the regulations because of comments received and recommended changes not adopted is published with the new regulations.

As stated in the regulations, "The policy of the Act and of these regulations is to protect Indian children from arbitrary removal from their families and tribal affiliations by establishing procedures to insure that measures to prevent the breakup of Indian families are followed in child custody proceedings. This will insure protection of the best interests of Indian children and Indian families by providing assistance and funding to Indian Tribes and Indian organizations in the operation of child and family service programs which reflect the unique values of Indian culture and promote, the stability and security of Indian families. In administering the grant authority for Indian Child and Family Programs it shall be Bureau policy to emphasize the design and funding of programs to promote the stability of Indian families.

Further information is available from Raymond V. Butler, Chief of the Division of Social Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 18th and C Streets N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240 (703/235-2756).

For additional information about the tribal resumption of jurisdiction contact David Etheridge, Office of the Solicitor, Department of the Interior, 18th and C Streets N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240 (202/343-6967).

Regulations to establish rules and procedures for the conduct of an election of an interim Yurok Tribal governing committee are being published in the Federal Register, Interior Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard announced today.

Gerard said the action is in accord with his November 20, 1978 message to the Hoopa Valley and Yurok people and is intended as one of the first steps leading to participation by the Yurok Tribe in the management of the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation.

Regulations setting out voters qualifications and establishing procedures for preparation of a Yurok voting list were published April 25, 1979.

Proposed regulations on the election procedures and duties of the interim governing committee were published May 30 for review and comment. Suggested changes to the proposed regulations are discussed in the Federal Register notice.

The new regulations will become effective 30 days after publication.

For further information contact the Office of Indian Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 18th and C Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240 (202-343-2111) or the Area Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, California 95825 (916-484-4682).