OPA

Buck Martin, Director of the White House Conference on Indian Education, reported ·today (November 21, 1991) ~hat the Oneida Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, the Choctaw Indian Tribe of Mississippi, the National Indian Education Association (NIEA), and the National Indian Impacted School~ Association (NIISA) have given in excess of $20,000 to support the conference.

Martin made the announcement as the White House Conference on Indian Education Advisory Committee convened in Albuquerque to work on the agenda for the conference which is now only two months away. It is scheduled for January 22-24, 1992, in Washington, D.C.

"Tribal support for this conference is critical," Martin said, "for it demonstrates that tribes recognize that ultimately they must serve as educational catalysts for their future generations."

Bum Stiffarm, newly elected President of the National Indian Education Association, was in Albuquerque to present his organization's $5,000 contribution to the White House Conference.

"This conference is not an end unto itself," Stiffarm noted. "It is, rather, a place for an open exchange of views and experiences, and of working together to propose courses of action. The real challenge for Indian and Alaska Native people will be the education work we do after the Conference, including efforts in the context of our jobs as parents and grandparents, as school board members, as teachers and school officials, as tribal elders, and as tribal government officials."

In thanking the NIEA, NIISA, and Oneida and Choctaw tribes, Martin said that the "combination of tribal and national support illustrates that collectively Indians deem this conference crucial to setting a national Indian education agenda. Never before in history have we had an opportunity to determine our own destiny with respect to the education of our fellow tribal members."

Martin said that "Indian tribes recognize that ultimately they have the responsibility for the education of all their members. We have been bypassed by the industrial age and now must chart our futures in a technological era. This conference will equip us with a comprehensive plan as we approach the 21st century."

The White House Conference on Indian Education is Congressionally mandated and is a collaborative effort involving the White House, the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of the Interior. It will be held January 22-24, 1992, in Washington, D.C. at the Ramada Renaissance Hotel at Techworld. To inquire about hotel reservations, call (202) 898-9000; space is limited and the $97.00 per night rate is only guaranteed through December 1, 1991.

Forty-three Indian tribal leaders and officials of the Department of the Interior (DOI) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) will meet December 16-18 in Tampa, Florida, to discuss the reorganization of the BIA.

The ninth meeting of the Joint Tribal/BIA/DOI Advisory Task Force for the Reorganization of the BIA will be held from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day at the Sheraton Tampa East, 7401 East Hillsborough A venue. The Task Force will hear testimony from Indian tribal leaders and Indian organizations from Florida and other Eastern Area states on their ideas as to how the BIA should be reorganized to better serve Indian tribes and individuals. The meeting is open to the general public.

Established for a two-year period last January by Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan, the Task Force is comprised of 36 Indian tribal leaders, two DOI officials and five BIA personnel. A status report on their reorganization efforts was submitted to Secretary Lujan and the U.S. Congress last April. The Tampa meeting will be the fourth since that report was submitted. The Task Force last met in San Diego, California, in November.

Eddie F. Brown, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs in Interior, is co-chair of the Task Force for the federal representatives, and Wendell Chino, President of the Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico, is co-chair as the tribal leaders representative.

The names of Task Force members are enclosed as well as a briefing paper that summarizes the Task Force's actions to date.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today denied an application by the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska for the Federal Government to take in trust three acres of land in Council Bluffs, Iowa, as the site for an Indian gaming casino.

The tribe in partnership with Harvey's Wagon Wheel, Inc. has proposed a $67 million hotel-convention-gaming complex to be known as "Ohiya" on a 50-acre site in Council Bluffs. The tribe sought trust status for three acres of the property so that it might qualify for a Class III (casino-type) enterprise as defined in the Indian Gaming Regulatory of 1988.

"I have decided to deny the request of the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska to take into trust three acres of land they own in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on which they had planned to build the casino component of the Ohiya project," Lujan said.

The Secretary said he found no fault with the applicants.

"Because the project crosses the Nebraska-Iowa State boundary, the proposed venture could directly compete with the interests of a tribe in Iowa," Lujan said. "Given the location of the project, I am unable to ignore the interests of a tribe in Iowa in favor of those of a tribe in Nebraska."

Secretary of the Interior Don Hodel today announced an FY 1988 budget "Supports the President's goals of providing a better quality life through a stronger, more productive America.

"We have made decisions in the budget that emphasize our goal of maintaining or improving the multitude of Interior agency facilities and services used by the public while continuing to meet the budget limitations under the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act.

"Interior's budget focuses on the protection of our existing resources," Hodel said. "Continued emphasis is given to operation of national parks and to development of energy and mineral resources. Among the several management efficiencies proposed in the budget are major efforts to strengthen enforcement of the surface mining laws, to improve oversight of the Department's revenue collection and regulatory activities, and to provide ready access by the public to our land and mineral records through automation. The budget also highlights significant new initiatives for American Indians and for the completion of water resource projects."

The FY 1988 budget totals $6.3 billion, $1 million less than the current 1987 estimate, and is consistent with this Administration's past budget priorities. To help meet the government-wide Gramm-Rudman-Hollings target for FY 1988 and bring FY 1987 more in line with FY 1986 and the proposed FY 1988 activities, $303 million in rescissions are proposed in FY 1987.

"National parks, recreation areas and other public lands, which will host over 465 million visitors this year, will have operating levels at or above current funding estimates," Hodel said. "The high quality visitor experience which Americans have come to expect will not be allowed to diminish. Many areas actually will see significant improvement. No national parks, wildlife refuges, fish hatcheries, recreation areas or historic sites will be closed or have their operating hours reduced." Legislation was passed in FY 1987, which permitted a one-time increase in park entrance fees and permanent increases in wildlife refuges fees. These in turn allowed increases for operations and maintenance. Permanent authorizing legislation is being proposed for FY 1988 to increase or institute modest entry fees at generated will result in an overall increase in funds for park operations.

Within an overall funding increase for construction of water resource projects by the Bureau of Reclamation, the Administration is proposing that budget resources be focused on completing projects substantially underway or on meeting more critical needs, such as safety of dams. Conversely, funding is limited or postponed for some projects in the early stages of construction. No projects are being abandoned.

"Over the years, there has been a tendency to continue work on more projects than the limited funding would properly support in any single year. This has resulted in construction delays and stretched-out completion dates, making these projects more costly in the long run and inordinately delaying the important benefits they can provide," Hodel said. "This Administration ~ has attempted to provide adequate funding to maintain efficient and cost-effective completion schedules on as many projects as possible and stay within the deficit reduction goals. In FY 1988, funding again will not be sufficient to maintain all projects on schedule, notwithstanding a $98 million increase over the FY 1987 construction level. Consequently, we propose to fund construction projects selectively to complete them on a more efficient schedule and deliver on their promised benefits. We will allocate a larger share of total resources to some projects in order to maintain or accelerate completion dates. Construction funding for others will be correspondingly postponed.

We also are postponing planning studies for projects which have little chance to receive construction funding in the foreseeable future. In la~ years, as funds become available, funding will be applied to resume efficient construction on postponed projects and to renew worthwhile planning studies which have been delayed."

As part of an Administration initiative, revenue of $154 million is estimated from the sale of Bureau of Reclamation loans in FY 1988. The loans to be sold to the private sector include completed loans to irrigation districts and other public agencies for construction of distribution systems on authorized federal reclamation projects and to non - federal agencies for construction of small water resource projects. Another asset proposed for sale is the government's helium refining and distribution facilities operated by the Bureau of Mines in Amarillo, Texas; Satanta, Kansas; and Keyes, Oklahoma. Legislation which authorized federal helium refining and distribution facilities was intended to ensure that federal agency needs for this lightweight gas were met. Today, the United States has a sizable helium industry that has this capability. The government's helium inventory will be retained for federal agency use and the Bureau will retain its helium resource assessment activities. Revenue from the sale is estimated to be $50 million.

Although there will be no budget impact in FY 1988, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) will undertake a series of initiatives to provide incentives and opportunities for self- improvement of both tribes and individuals. Assistant Secretary Ross Swimmer will undertake four major initiatives, including: localizing education decisions and policies to ( promote greater association with local public education systems; promote tribal and individual incentives for welfare reform, such as education and jobs: stimulating economic development through increased job training and , Investment opportunities, and; seeking to control drug and alcohol abuse through emphasis on motivation and rehabilitation. ''Our ultimate goal is to continue to support self-determination and Indian cultural values while the BIA moves from the role of a 'provider' to one of an 'enabler,''' Hodel said.

Funds for the Dingell-Johnson Federal Aid in Fish Restoration Act will increase dramatically, primarily because of revised estimates of motor boat fuel taxes. For FY 1988, the increase will be $33 million to a level of $174 million or 457 percent of the FY 1985 level. ''The increase in program responsibilities is not supportable in view of the amount of the increase in just three years since FY 85, particularly when compared to maintenance or modest increases in surrounding programs," Hodel said. The budget calls for a one-time transfer of $25 million of this additional new money into the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's basic operating account for program responsibilities related to wildlife and fisheries. The transfer will still allow a substantial increase in funds to states for sport fishery restoration.

Included in the budget is an increase for additional park police and improved facilities and equipment for enforcement personnel. Continued high priority also is given for the investigation and research of environmental contaminants and their impact on wildlife and water resources.

While funds will be available in FY 1988 for the acquisition of lands, other land acquisition funding would be limited to emergency situations. Also consistent with past budgets proposed by this Administration, reduced construction expenditures are proposed for parks, wildlife refuges and Indian reservations although funding is included for high priority dam safety projects. No funds are requested for state grants for recreation and historic preservation programs, endangered species, and anadromous fish.

The budget proposes that the costs of administering federal mineral leasing programs be shared equally with the states before receipt payments are made \o them. ''The philosophy of sharing with the states is sound, but placing the entire cost of collection on one party, the federal government, is not," Hodel said. Under current law, states receive 50 percent (Alaska - 90 percent), pf all receipts derived from minerals on public lands without incurring any of the costs of producing these receipts. Full funding is proposed in The Bureau of Land Management for payments in lieu of taxes to states and counties.

The Interior Department is one of the federal government's largest producers of revenue. Total receipts in FY 1988 are estimated to be $6.5 billion, of which $3.09 billion will come from mineral leasing on the Outer Continental, Shelf and $1.05 billion from mineral leasing onshore.

Interior Assistant Secretary Ken Smith announced today that the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) at Santa Fe, New Mexico would be funded and would continue operations for at least the next two years.

Smith told a gathering of Indian artists, in Washington for a special exhibition of Indian art at the Kennedy Center, that he had reaffirmed his "personal support for the Institute" which has suffered a serious decline in enrollment in recent years. Smith said he told the Institute President Jon Wade to build on the best traditions of the fine arts school, but also to take necessary steps toward sound and effective management.

The post-secondary Institute, established in 1962 as a fine arts high school, is now seeking accreditation as a junior college.

Smith told the artists, some of them IAIA alumni, that the school has been a valuable cultural asset to the Indian community. He said the Bureau's education officials would be working with the school staff to complete studies needed for planning long-term future of the school.

Interior Assistant Secretary Ken Smith has offered to continue the Bureau of Indian Affairs' operation of 21 village day schools in Alaska in 1982-83.

In a March 10 letter to Alaska Governor Jay Hammond, Smith offered two options, both of which included BIA operation of Mt. Edgecumbe boarding high school for one more year.

Option 1 called for the 1982 transfer of 16 of the 37 village day schools now operated by the BIA and the remaining 21 at the end of 1982-83 school year.

Option 2 would transfer all 37 village schools at the end of this school year, together with approximately $5.9 million that the Bureau would otherwise spend on the schools.

In 1963, the BIA and the state formalized an agreement for the transfer of BIA schools to state administration. There were at one time, as many as 120 BIA schools in Alaska. Transfers have occurred intermittently in the past 20 years. Smith is proposing that the transfer be completed no later than 1983.

BIA officials began negotiating last fall with state officials for the completion of the transfer. They also visited 36 of the 37 villages to discuss the proposed transfers with parents and village leaders. (One village was missed because of bad weather.)

Smith asked Governor Hammond to respond by March 30 if he wanted the BIA to continue operating the 21 village schools for one more year. He explained, "We must begin issuing employment contracts."

Concerning the costs of upgrading facilities involved in the transfers, Smith wrote: "we do not anticipate any funds to be made available to the State of Alaska for purposes of capital improvements. We do, however, intend to complete planned improvements to five schools in FY 1982 valued at $2.1 million. Three of these five projects involve schools scheduled for transfer this year."

Interior Assistant Secretary Ken Smith today appointed six provisional regional directors to a 30-day detail as part of the proposed major realignment of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

In addition, he named four provisional Assistant Directors of Education for the same period to fill the proposed slots planned under the realignment of the Bureau's education division.

Smith said the new directors will continue the consultation process with tribal leaders on proposed future plans for the Bureau.

The six newly named provisional regional directors and the proposed regions in which they will consult with tribal leaders are:

Sid Mills, Southwest Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico: New Mexico, Colorado and eastern Utah.

Earl Barlow, Northeast Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, New York, and Maine.

Stanley Speaks, Southern Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Oklahoma, Kansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Florida.

Bill Babby, Western Center, Phoenix, Arizona: Arizona, southern Nevada, southern Utah, and southern and central California.

Vince Little, Northwest Center, Portland, Oregon: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, the northern parts of California and Nevada, western Montana, and the Metlakatla Reservation in southern Alaska.

Jerry Jaeger, North Central Center, Rapid City, South Dakota: Eastern Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota and Nebraska.

Mills, Barlow and Little are presently serving as Area Directors in the areas proposed as location of the new regional technical assistance service centers. Speaks is now Area Director in Anadarko, Oklahoma; Babby is presently Area Director in Sacramento; and Jaeger is Area Director in Aberdeen. South Dakota.

The four new provisional Assistant Directors of Education and the areas in which they will serve for a 30-day detail are:

Dr. Helen Miller, Northeast Center, Minneapolis: Same areas to be served by the BIA North Central and Northeast regional service centers.

Van Peters, Northwest Center, and Portland: Includes the areas of the BIA Northwest regional service center, Alaska, and some tribes in Montana.

Harry Eagle Bull, Southeast Center, Oklahoma City: Serves the same area as the BIA southern regional service center.

Peter Soto, Southwest Center, and Phoenix: Will serve the entire southwest quadrant of the country, 1nclud1ng the area of the Albuquerque BIA regional service center.

The new provisional Assistant Area Directors for Education are all serving as area education program administrators in their prospective new centers with the exception of Eagle Bull who is presently located in Aberdeen, S.D. Under the proposed new realignment for education, the 12 present areas would be reduced to four regions and the Assistant Directors for Education will have direct line authority over the education programs in their areas. The educational offices will co-exist with other BIA operations in the different locations.

Smith has asked his Deputy for Operations, John Fritz, to assume the responsibility to see that the consultation process is carried out in a proper and timely manner.

"I have instructed our six new provisional regional directors and our education assistant directors to carry out a true consultation process," Fritz said. "We want to determine if the service needs of our clientele -- the Indian people -- will be met by our new proposals. If we determine that our proposed realignment does not substantially meet the needs of our clientele then we will consider our plan amendable," he added.

The Deputy for Operations pointed out that the next 30 days will be a continuation of the consultation process began last week when he, Assistant Secretary Smith and Deputy for Policy, Roy Sampsel, met with representatives of Indian organizations, BIA central office employees and some 100 members of Congressional staffs. Direct contact with Members of Congress took place over a three day period beginning on February 12.

Fritz said the service needs of the Indian people were at the heart of this proposed reorganization. "That is why we are reducing our overhead and management costs by $16 million while increasing by $55 million the monies earmarked directly for programs that serve Indian people on the reservations," he added.

"I have also asked our provisional directors to begin the analysis having to do with staffing patterns, organizational structure, etc. for the proposed regions along with their consultation process," Fritz pointed out. He said this was important because this streamlined management concept is designed to the differing and specific needs of Indian country far into the future.

To insure the continuity of service during this consultation process, Fritz has named seven acting area directors in those present BIA area offices whose directors have been detailed to continue the consultation process. Those seven areas are: Aberdeen, Will Bowker, now serving as Assistant Area Director, Portland; Albuquerque, Barry Welch; Anadarko, Chuck Delaney; Minneapolis, Frank Annette; Phoenix, Rusty Farmer who is now Assistant Area Director in Aberdeen; Portland, Peter Three Stars, Superintendent at Western Washington Agency in Everett, Washington; and Sacramento, Eddie Edwards.

A proposed project to develop oil and gas resources within the boundaries of the Big Cypress Indian Reservation in Florida would not create significant environmental issues or concerns, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has concluded.

The BIA has prepared an environmental assessment on a proposal by Tesoro Oil Corporation and NRM Petroleum Corporation to engage in exploration, development and production activity for oil and gas on the reservation. The proposal calls for a seismic reconnaissance survey over 32,830 acres, drilling exploratory wells and the selection of approximately 50 wells for production. The project will require the construction of pipelines, tanks, manifolds and other accessory supply facilities prior to the commencement of actual production.

Short-term impacts on the environment would be typical of those encountered elsewhere in nearby locations in Florida, the BIA said. Potential impacts on land use, wildlife habitats and air/water qualities were judged to be insignificant.

Single copies of the environmental assessment may be obtained from the BIA Eastern Area Office, 1951 Constitution Avenue, N.W, Washington, D.C. 20245 or the BIA Seminole Agency, 6075 Stirling Road, Hollywood, Florida 33024.

James H. Stevens, a member of the San Carlos Band of Apaches, has been appointed director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Phoenix area office. Interior Assistant Secretary Ken Smith said that Stevens' appointment would be effective April 4.

Stevens, superintendent of the Bureau's Spokane agency at Wellpinit, Washington, has been detailed twice in the past year to serve in the central office as the acting director of the Office of Trust Responsibilities. He is currently functioning in that capacity now on a detail that began in January.

Assistant Secretary Smith praised Stevens for his "administrative abilities as well as his broad knowledge of Indian matters. Jim has done an outstanding job serving as the director of Trust Responsibilities. He will be a major asset to the Phoenix area."

Stevens moves into the federal government's Senior Executive Service in his new assignment.

He has been the agency superintendent at Spokane since 1972. Prior to that he had been assistant to the superintendent at the BIA's Nevada agency.

An engineering graduate of the University of Arizona School of mines, Stevens began his career with the Bureau as a supervisory roads engineer at the Fort Apache agency in 1963.

A native of Arizona, Stevens worked eight years with the California division of highways before coming to the BIA. He is married and has three children.

Stevens succeeds Bill Finale who retired February 19.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has announced a series of hearings throughout Indian country on its proposed plans to close all but three of its off-reservation boarding schools. Notice of the hearings is being published in the Federal Register, Interior Assistant Secretary Ken Smith said today.

Schools slated to be closed at the end of this school year are the Wahpeton Indian School in North Dakota; Concho Indian School in Oklahoma; and the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) in New Mexico. The phase-out plans for the closure of the Intermountain School, Utah and Mt. Edgecumbe in Alaska at the end of the 1982-83 school year; Sequoyah Indian School, Oklahoma and Flandreau in South Dakota at the end of the 1983-84 year; and the Phoenix Indian School at the end of the 1984-85 school year.

The three schools to be continued would be Chemawa, Oregon, Sherman, California and Riverside, Oklahoma.

The first hearings would be March 30 at Anchorage, Alaska and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Others will be April 1 at Sitka, Alaska and Phoenix, Arizona; April 6 at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; April 13 at Minneapolis, Minnesota and Portland, Oregon; and April 15 at Billings, Montana and Aberdeen, South Dakota.

The hearings will begin at 10 a.m. at each site. For the exact location or additional information please call the local BIA area office or Ms. Carmen Taylor at 202/343-4493.

Persons wishing to file written testimony should send it no later than April 16th to the Director of Indian Education Programs, BIA, 18th and C Sts., N.W., Washington, D. C. 20240.