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Interior Assistant Secretary Ross Swimmer Thursday told Senator James McClure that every option will be examined before a final decision is made concerning the relocation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) agency office in Lapwai.

“I assured Senator McClure that we would look at remodeling the present site; other sites in the area; or new construction. We will not make a decision until all of those have been considered,” Swimmer said.

Swimmer's action came about after press reports circulated earlier in the week that a move to Spokane, Washington was being considered because of structural and other problems with the present Agency headquarters owned by the local school district in Lapwai. Senator McClure asked Swimmer to reconsider the move out of the state and to examine every option that was available to the Agency that provides services to the Nez Perce, Coeur D'Alene and Kootenai Indian tribes.

Swimmer said that an asbestos problem in the building has been temporarily abated and that any further needed repairs will be discussed with the General Services Administration (GSA), the Federal agency responsible for filling the space needs of all Federal agencies. “Now that we have been assured by the school district that owns the building that we can remain there, we have asked GSA to look further for suitable space in Lapwai,” he said.

Swimmer said he would notify Senator McClure as soon as an evaluation is completed which is expected to take about 60 days.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is publishing in the Federal Register proposed revisions in the regulations governing fishing on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation in northern California

The most significant change is the ban on gill net fishing during the fall chinook run from 9 a.m. Monday to 5 p.m. Wednesday of each week and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday.

In December 1981, Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary, Roy Sampsel, visited the reservation and adjoining areas to discuss with the Indian community the state of the fishery resource. One frequent comment made to Sampsel was that the Indians on the reservations were not asked to participate in the writing of the regulations or their subsequent changes. Subsequently, a pamphlet was developed by a committee of Indian fishermen and distributed to the Indian community containing recommended changes, a copy of the existing regulations, and a questionnaire soliciting Indian comments.

Responses to the questionnaire provided valuable information on public feeling. They indicated that a number of changes needed to be made in the regulations both to make them more effective in conserving the resource and to alleviate unnecessary burdens on the persons governed by the rules.

Comments on the proposed regulations should be sent within 30 days of publication to: Sacramento Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Federal Building, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, California 95825. For further information, contact Wilson Barber, Superintendent, Northern California Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, P.O. Box 367, Hoopa, California 95546, 916/625-4285.

Ownership of the 170-acre campus of the former Intermountain Indian School in Brigham City, Utah will be formally returned to the city in a ceremony to be held in the City Hall January 28.

John W. Fritz, the Interior Department's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, will give Mayor Peter C. Knudson a quit claim deed to the Congressman James V. Hansen CR. Utah) and the Brigham City council will be present.

The transfer of the land, originally donated by the city to the United States in 1942, is in accord with a federal law enacted August 27, 1984. Congress had directed the closing of the school by June of 1984 because of declining enrollments in Bureau of Indian Affairs off-reservation schools.

The land was first used by the United States in World War II as the site of the Bushnell Military Hospital. The city, at that time, also provided power, water and sewer lines, paved roads, and sand and gravel for building construction. A 3,700 bed hospital was completed in 1943 and was used by the Army until 1946.

In 1949 the land and buildings were transferred to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to be used as a temporary school to help meet a greatly increased post-war demand for education on the Navajo reservation. At first the Intermountain school was used by Navajo students who were overage for their school grade level. It subsequently became a vocational 'training school for students from many tribes and Alaska and, more recently, provided a full high school program. At its peak, the school had an enrollment of about 2,300.

A spokesman for the city said the property will be developed for use as an industrial/business park.

The President's 1986 budget request for the Bureau of Indian Affairs continues to stress the basic goals of strengthening tribal government, encouraging economic development and providing essential program services on the reservations.

The $927.4 million requested includes increases for school operations, tribal courts, welfare grants, services to newly recognized tribes, and the loan guaranty program under the recently amended Indian Financing Act:. There will also be increases for support funds for tribal contracting of reservation programs, for water policy implementation in the northern plains and for cadastral surveys in Alaska to expedite the transfer of land to Native corporations and individuals.

Two programs initiated in 1983, one to assist small tribes develop needed management skills and the other to provide "seed money" grants for reservation enterprises, will maintain funding levels increased in 1985 to $4.9 million and $9.8 million respectively. The request for $47.6 million for law enforcement on the reservations similarly reflects an $8.8 million increase received in 1985.

The 1986 budget request represents a reduction of $66.3 million from the 1985 appropriation of $993.7 million. The two major areas of retrenchment are construction --cut back $43.2 million --and the Johnson-O'Malley (JOM) program of education assistance to public schools --reduced from $25.7 million to zero.

The JOM funds are distributed to public schools and school districts enrolling substantial numbers of Indian students. It is supposed to be used for special supplemental programs for the Indians. A BIA education spokesman said this program was considered expendable because similar supplemental assistance is provided in the public schools through programs funded by the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services. He added that reports by the General Accounting Office and the Interior Inspector General have indicated, "also, that in many cases JOM funds have been used for basic public school activities, not aimed at the unique needs of Indian students.

Construction funding is requested only for ongoing projects, with no new starts planned for 1986.

The reservation road construction program of the Bureau will be funded by a $100 million allocation of contract authority from the Highway Trust Fund of the Department of Transportation. These funds are in addition to those in the BIA request.

A change, mandated by Congress, in the way contract support funds are listed in the budget request makes a line item by line item comparison with the 1985 appropriation misleading.

In 1985, contract support funds totaling $35.9 million were listed separately in their own line item categories. In 1986, the contract support funds are lumped together with program monies. This has the effect of making program increases seem larger than they really are and making it appear that some programs received increases when, in fact, they did not.

Contract support funds are used for overhead or administrative costs of programs operated by tribal groups under contracts with the BIA.

Secretary of the Interior Don Hodel has signed into existence a Royalty Management Advisory Committee, a key element of the Department's action plan to improve the processing of mineral royalties collected on federal and Indian lands.

"The committee members will represent those parties directly affected by the federal Royalty Management Program --the States, Indian Tribes, and individual Indians who receive royalty payments, as well as industry and the general public," Hodel said. "They will be an invaluable and well qualified source of guidance for me on matters that concern royalty participants."

The establishment of the committee is one of the major steps called for in the Department's recently announced Royalty Management Action Plan, which is aimed at providing quicker, more efficient and accurate processing of mineral revenues from federal and Indian leases. The Department's Minerals Management Service (MMS) is responsible for handling these revenues, which in 1984 amounted to more than $9 billion.

"It's very important to get the committee in place and functioning as soon as possible," Hodel said. "It’s advice will help tremendously in implementing other elements of the action plan."

Other features of the action plan include the installation of a new computer system to improve accounting, the establishment of a Lease Management Board to review all Departmental lease management policies, and steps to improve relations with States and Indian Tribes. According to its charter, the committee will initially address such issues as future systems design, funding guidelines for programs that delegate auditing authority to State and Indian governments, and product valuation regulations.

The committee will have no more than 31 members, who will serve on a non-reimbursable basis. Recommendations for membership are being solicited by the Department from affected States, Indian Tribes, industry, and the public. The nominating process is expected to be completed by August 31, and the first meeting of the committee may be held as early as October.

Secretary of the Interior Don Hodel said today he has sent letters to the Pueblo of Santa Ana and to the New Mexico Attorney General rejecting the Pueblo's proposal to conduct parimutuel wagering on greyhound dog races on reservation land.

The Secretary said he recognizes the proposal was intended to raise income to accomplish "a variety of worthwhile and important objectives" for the reservation, but "it would be irresponsible for me silently to acquiesce in the Pueblo's engaging in activities which specifically have been called to my attention and which appear to violate federal criminal law."

Last November the Pueblo submitted to the Secretary a proposal to build a dog racing track on reservation lands near Albuquerque. Although the Pueblo later withdrew the request for Secretarial approval, news reports indicated that the Pueblo was proceeding with plans for the dog racing enterprise. The initial issue was whether parimutuel wagering on dog races is a violation of New Mexico and federal law.

Because a potential violation of federal criminal law is indicated, Hodel said he would refer the matter to the U.S. Justice Department.

Hodel, in his letter, said that "both an analysis of the gambling laws of the State of New Mexico and appropriate deference to the construction of such laws by the New Mexico Attorney General" caused him to conclude that betting on dog races would violate New Mexico's criminal laws and, therefore, would violate the federal Assimilative Crimes Act (ACA), which applies State criminal laws to Indian reservations.

Referring to the Pueblo's proposed lease of its reservation lands and to a proposed contract with an individual from Abilene, Kansas to manage the dog races, Hodel said that "since the proposed gambling activities would violate federal criminal law, I will not approve either the lease or the management contract." In response to public statements by attorneys for the Pueblo and for the manager indicating that the gambling project would proceed without Secretarial approval, Hodel said, "Because I will not acquiesce to a potential violation of federal criminal law nor ignore in these circumstances federal statutes requiring Secretarial approval of the lease and contract, I am referring this matter to the Attorney General of the United States."

Hodel's letters were delivered Tuesday as he was in New Mexico for a two-day visit which includes a meeting with the All Indian Pueblo Council.

Before leaving Washington last week for a month-long western trip, Hodel told a news conference that attempts by Indian tribes to engage in gambling operations such as parimutuel wagering that are in conflict with State laws could jeopardize Indian bingo enterprises already in existence on many reservations across the country.

"I believe that Indian bingo has been extremely significant for about 85 reservations," Hodel said at the news conference. "It is one of the few sources of income for some of those reservations which basically have no other resource."

In his letter rejecting the Pueblo of Santa Ana proposal, Hodel noted that the objective of the planned enterprise was to obtain "badly needed funds for services to its people and economic development on the reservation so as to enable employment opportunities and improved lifestyle." The Secretary said, however, that despite the laudable objectives he could not approve any gambling operation that would be in conflict with federal laws.

The Interior Department’s Indian Arts and Crafts Hoard announced today publication of a new 32-page Source Directory of interest to potential customers for authentic Native American arts and crafts.

The Directory lists 198 businesses which are owned and operated by Native Americans. Located in states from Alaska to Florida, the businesses offer handcrafted products reflecting distinctive Indian and Eskimo creativity. Products listed include jewelry, moccasins, custom-designed dresses and other garments, as well as rugs, quilts, pottery, basketry, metalwork, paintings, carvings and figurines for home decor. Other products include drums, masks, feather headdresses, dolls, and unique items decorated with porcupine quillwork.

Businesses appearing in the Directory are artist and craftsman cooperatives, tribal arts and crafts enterprises, as well as businesses and galleries privately owned and operated by Native American individuals, designer/craftsman artists. Also included are several non-profit organizations working directly with Native American groups to develop products and markets.

Entries in the Directory give names and addresses of the businesses, telephone numbers, business hours, outline major products handled by each business, and indicate if mail orders are accepted.

As most ·of the listed sources maintain retail shops, the Directory also will be of special interest to tourists and travelers throughout the United States. For the traveler’s convenience, businesses are listed alphabetically by state.

Single copies of the Source directory are distributed free upon request to: Indian Arts and Crafts Board, U. S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. 20240.

Interior Assistant Secretary Ken Smith announced today new assignments for four Bureau of Indian Affairs area directors all of them members of the Federal Government's senior executive service.

The new appointments are as follows:

Sidney Mills, the Albuquerque area director, has been named director of the Bureau's Office of Trust Responsibilities in Washington, D. C.

Vincent Little, director of the Bureau's Portland, Oregon area office, replaces Mills in Albuquerque.

Stan Speaks, director of the Anadarko, Oklahoma area office, is the new director of the Portland office. Maurice w. (Bill) Babby, director of the area office at Sacramento, California, goes to Anadarko as director of that office.

Sidney L. Mills, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, was director of the Bureau's Albuquerque, New Mexico area office. He was appointed to that position in 1978, after serving for three years as the executive assistant to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in Washington, D. C. A Navy veteran, Mills entered Federal service in 1973 in the Aberdeen area office where he served as the supply and contracting officer and as acting deputy director. 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.

Vincent Little, a member of the Mohave Tribe, was director of the BIA's Portland area office, appointed to that position in March, 1977. He began work with BIA as a teacher at the Phoenix Indian School in 1957. He was an enrollment officer and tribal operations officer at the Western Washington Agency from 1963 to 1967. He then worked as assistant superintendent at the Hoopa agency in northern California. From 1970 to 1973 he was the education program administrator at Phoenix Indian School and then became the superintendent at the Northern Idaho agency. A U.S. Army veteran, Little graduated from the Arizona State University in 1957 and received a Master's degree there in 1961.

Stan Speaks, a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, was appointed area director at Anadarko, Oklahoma in 1975. He had previously been the acting superintendent of the Intermountain Indian School at Brigham City, Utah were he had also served for five years as the supervisory guidance counselor. He worked in Indian education programs with the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1959 to 1975. He is a graduate of the Northeastern State college of Oklahoma, where he also earned a Master's in education.

Maurice W. Babby, Oglala Sioux, was named director of the Sacramento area office in August, 1981. He had been director of the BIA's office of administration in Washington, D. C. prior to going to Sacramento. Babby began his career in the Bureau at the Sacramento office. He was superintendent of the Fort Belknap agency in Montana 1967-70 and assistant area director at Billings. Montana 1970-79. A graduate of Sacramento State University, Babby earned a law degree from the LaSalle Extension University in 1969 and a Master's in Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma in 1977.

Secretary of the Interior Don Hodel said today he was "absolutely that the President had nominated Ross Swimmer for Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. “We are exceedingly fortunate that Mr. Swimmer is willing to accept this position,” Hodel said, "for he has extraordinary qualities of leadership and business experience vital to the success of U.S Indian programs.

"Ross Swimmer combines a solid knowledge of tribal and Indian affairs with understanding and skill in modern business management," Hodel said, noting that the nominee has served for 10 years as the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, which includes more than 67,000 registered members living mostly in 14 counties of northeastern Oklahoma. At the same time he was president of the First National Bank of Tahlequah.

"He is dedicated to helping tribes achieve economic success in a competitive society while preserving the rich Indian heritage," Hodel said.

Swimmer, 41, was appointed by President Reagan in 1983 as Co-Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Indian Reservation Economies.

Swimmer earned a political science degree in 1965 and a law degree in 1967 at the University of Oklahoma. From 1967 to 1972 he was a partner in an Oklahoma City law firm. He became general counsel for the Cherokee Nation in 1972, serving in that capacity until 1975 when he was elected Principal Chief. In 1974, he was named executive vice president of the First National Bank in Tahlequah and was promoted to president the following year.

He is a member of the Oklahoma and American Bar Associations, Oklahoma Historical Society, Oklahoma Industrial Development commission; Oklahoma Bankers Association; Chairman, Board of Directors of the Council of Energy Resource Tribes; and Executive Committee of the Boy Scouts of America in Eastern Oklahoma. He also is the president of Cherokee National Historical Society and Chairman of the Inter-tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes.

Swimmer and his wife Margaret, a Tulsa attorney, have two children.