OPA

The Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Pine Ridge Agency, Anthony Whirlwind Horse, is being transferred to the Aberdeen, South Dakota area office to avoid real or apparent conflict of interest situations on the Pine Ridge Reservation where his brother, Elijah, was recently elected President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Forrest Gerard said that "the decision to reassign Mr. Whirlwind Horse was based on the opinions and advice of the Solicitor and the Department's Ethics Counselor."

Whirlwind Horse will be Tribal Government and Indian Rights Officer in the area office, effective September 24. His grade and pay will not be changed by the transfer.

A former teacher and school principal on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Whirling Horse was appointed Superintendent in November, 1976. A Navy veteran, he is a graduate of the Black Hills State College at Spearfish, South Dakota and has a Master's degree in education from Northern State College, Aberdeen.

Gerrard said that tribal officials had requested that Whirlwind Horse be kept in his position at Pine Ridge but this was not considered possible because, as bother of the tribal president, he would be placed in positions which would at least apparently, if not actually, conflict with Federal regulations.

Gerard said that Whirlwind Horse in his new position, "would be a forceful advocate for all of the tribes served by the Aberdeen Area Office."

Interior Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard has appointed Joe G. Weller as Bureau of Indian Affairs Superintendent on the Hoopa Reservation in northern California. Weller,an enrolled member of the Caddo Tribe has been a program analyst on the Indian Self-Determination Staff in Washington, D.C

Weller, 39, worked in BIA field office is in Texas, Idaho and Washington as an employment assistance specialist and officer. He has been in the Bureau's central office as a program analyst since 1975

A former member of the Air National Guard, Weller attended the University of New Mexico. He completed the Interior Department's Managers Development Program in 1969. His appointment is effective September 10, 1978.

The Department of the Interior an the State of California have agreed on a cooperative interim management plan for Klamath River salmon and steel fishery during the 1978 fall run, which has already begun, and the 1979 spring and summer run.

In a joint announcement today. Leo M. Krulitz, Interior Solicitor and A Secretary, ad Huey D. Johnson, California Secretary for Resource, said the agreement will allow the careful management of the fishery now while long-range studies continue.

Famed fish runs on the Klamath River and on the Trinity River, a tributary, have declined seriously in recent years due in large part to the dams and water diversions, logging and other land uses and management and drought. Both rivers flow through the Hoops Indian Reservation where, Interior officials concede, efforts to regulate fishing have been largely ineffective.

After a long series of discussion with the State officials failed to produce agreement on a joint plan, the Interior Department in July implemented an interim plan to regulate Indian fishing but continued discussions with the State toward regulation of all users of the resource.

The key provision of the cooperative management agreement, which is effective immediately, would:

--Allow a total harvest by all fishermen of 35,000 adult fall-run salmon: 30,000 to Indians at a rate of 5,000 per five-day weekly period; 5,000 for sports anglers with a two-fish-per-day limit during a fishing of five days per week.

The responsibility of managing the Indian fishery will remain with the Indian tribes and with the Department. Prohibit sales of steelhead or sturgeon:

--Allow for complete or partial closures

--except for Indian subsistence fishing which will be closely monitored to assure adequate escapement for spawning --during the spring and summer salmon run; --Allow closure when the total take reaches 35,000 fish or sooner if needed to allow escapement of 115,000 adult fish.

The total take could be further cut by an even earlier closure if the run is smaller than expected as it has been so far. The State and the Department will work out emergency closure provisions for all fisheries.

--Establish an advisory group and ensure strict and fair enforcement on all parties.

Krulitz said the advisory group would also help to develop a long-range management and enhancement plan which would consider the possibility of substantially increasing the runs by improved habitat and increased natural spawning in conjunction with new or expanded rearing facilities.

State and Interior official discussed the proposed agreement with various members of the Indian community and found substantial agreement on many points, Krulitz said, especially on the provision to limit fishing to five days per week. That limit will help ensure adequate escapement for spawning and also help support fishing upstream from the mouth of the river.

Final regulations governing the procedures by which an Indian group would be acknowledged to be an Indian tribe are being published in the Federal Register Interior Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard announced today.

The increased number of Indian groups requesting that the Secretary of the Interior officially acknowledge them as Indian tribes has necessitated the development of uniform procedures to be followed.

The purpose of the regulations is to facilitate the official recognition of the American Indian tribal groups which have maintained their political, ethnic and cultural integrity despite the absence of any formal action by the Federal Government to acknowledge or implement a Federal relationship.

Under the regulations as proposed, the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs would acknowledge only the Indian tribes whose members and their ancestor existed in tribal relations since aboriginal times and have retained some aspects of their aboriginal sovereignty.

With these requirements, not every group of Indian people living in the same region or area would necessarily constitute a tribe, though they might be members of a club, corporation or other organization. Failure to be acknowledged pursuant to these regulations does not constitute a denial that the group is Indian. It means these groups do not have the characteristics necessary for the Secretary to acknowledge them as existing as an Indian tribe entitles to rights and services as such

James A. Joseph, Under Secretary of the Interior, and Huey Johnson, California' Secretary for Resources, today announced creation of a five-member observer team to monitor enforcement of strict regulations the two departments imposed earlier this week on Klamath River salmon and steelhead fishing.

"Formation of the team responds to general concern that the regulations be rigorously and equitably enforced," said Joseph. "The group will be a neutral body which will work to reconcile the interests of all parties concerned with the Klamath River fishery."

In a joint action, the two departments closed the Klamath at midnight Sunday, August 27, to all fishing for fall chinook salmon and steelhead trout below the Highway 101 bridge and severely curtailed fishing above the bridge. The limited return of adult fish of both species prompted the closure to protect the fishery.

"The presence of the observer team on the Klamath at this time will allow for the best possible communication among decision makers, enforcement officials and other interested groups - Indian and non- Indian alike - and will minimize the possibility that differences will arise based on false information and rumor," said Johnson.

The observer team, which the Department of the Interior will fund, consists of: William Dougherty, representing Secretary Andrus; Taylor Miller, representing Secretary Johnson; Walter McCovey, jr., representing the Klamath Tribes; a person to be named representing the Klamath River Resort Owner' Association; and Ed Howden representing the Community Relations Service of the U.S. Department of Justice.

The team will work closely with enforcement officials of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the California Department of Fish and Game in reviewing overall enforcement strategies and actions.

The team will have the latest information regarding the status of the salmon run as well as current forecasts for the duration and size of the seasonal run. It will participate in all decisions regarding continuation of the fishing closure now in effect as well as any revisions to existing regulations.

Johnson and Joseph also announced the establishment of an information center to be jointly funded and staffed by state and federal personnel. The center will work closely with the observer team and will regularly report the most current information available on all aspects of regulations, enforcement actions and salmon resources.

Secretary Cecil D. Andrus announced today that he will visit the Pacific Northwest in September to review the status of salmon and steelhead runs and to make an official visit to the Quinault Indian Reservation

"There is a growing concern for the condition of the fishery and I want to take the opportunity not only to review its current status but also to obtain first-hand reports about the future of the runs from Federal, State and Tribal representatives," Andrus said.

The visit, which will begin September 22, will take the Secretary to Seattle for an airport press conference and then on to Lewiston, Idaho. From Lewiston, the Secretary and his party will helicopter to Little Goose and Lower Granite Dams to be briefed by fishery experts and to inspect fish passage facilities at the Dams.

The Secretary, accompanied by Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Forrest Gerard, will visit the Quinault Indian Reservation on September 25 to tour the Reservation and to discuss the Reservation's timber management practices with Indian leaders.

Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus, accompanied by his Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Forrest Gerard, will visit the lower Klamath River area in northern California next Thursday, September 7, for meetings with Indian leaders concerned about fishing controversies in that region.

The Secretary's decision came after discussions with Yurok Indian spokesmen, State officials and others concerned. It followed a "fish-in" by Indians early this week protesting against State and Federal closure of the Klamath below the highway bridge to all commercial and sport fishing. The closure took effect at midnight Sunday, August 27.

The fall run of chinook salmon on the Klamath -- once renowned for both salmon and steelhead fishing -- has fallen far below last year's levels and State and Federal biologists have expressed fear that unless the later weeks of the run improve sharply, the future of salmon in the river is in danger.

Some disorder on the river accompanied the "fish-in," as U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service enforcement agents confronted Indian demonstrators, but situation was reported quiet as of Thursday and Friday.

State and Federal officials Thursday announced formation of a five member observer team, representing involved interests to watch the situation closely, advice on any necessary adjustments of the fishing closure and work to ensure strict and fair enforcement of the closure.

Regulations governing the preparation of a roll of lineal descendants of the Saginaw, Swan Creek and Black River Bands of Chippewa Indians to share in the distribution of funds awarded by the Indian Claims Commission is being published in the Federal Register, Interior Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard announced today. The regulations establish the requirements for enrollment and a decid1ine of December 1, 1978 for filing applications.

The regulations art to be effective upon publication. Application forms and instructions for filing are available from the Michigan Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, P.O. Box 884, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan 49783.

For further information call Mitchell L. Bush, Jr., 202-343-6921

Proposed regulations to govern the preparation of a roll of Eastern Creek Indians eligible to share in a judgment award made by the Indian Claims Commission are being published in the Federal Register the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today.

The award of $1,346,000 in favor of the Creek Nation of Indians for lands in Georgia and Alabama taken in 1818 is to be apportioned between the Creek Tribe of Oklahoma and the unorganized group of Creek Indian descendants called Eastern Creek Indians.

The proposed regulations establish procedures and a deadline for updating and correcting a 1968 roll of Eastern Creeks.

Comments on the proposed regulations should be sent to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Tribal Government Services, 1951 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20245.

Further information is available from Janet Parks, above address or 202-343-2985.

·Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus and Under Secretary James Joseph reported today that they have reviewed and approved the general principles of a reorganization plan for the administration of Indian affairs.

Andrus and Joseph said that implementation of most major features of the plan, developed by Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Forrest Gerard, and would begin promptly after analysis of the plan's details.

Gerard's recommendations, which he announced today at the National Congress of American Indians annual convention in Rapid City, South Dakota, include:

--The appointment of a Commissioner of Indian Affairs to direct the day-today activities of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

--An emphasis on policy, planning and evaluation at the Assistant Secretary level.

--Continuation of the BIA's area offices as intermediate levels of authority, with any future changes in the role of these offices to be determined through studies to be made in each of the areas.

Gerard, in submitting his recommendations to the Secretariat, said: "Improvements in management systems are of greater importance than shifting boxes on an organization chart...I intend to institute changes which will be fundamental, extensive and enduring."

Gerard's recommendations embodied the basic concepts of recommendations submitted to him by a reorganization task force appointed last December. The recommendations of this group were published April 17 in the Federal Register for review and comment by the Indian community.

The task force had recommended that the top leadership for Indian affairs consist of the Assistant Secretary and three deputies. Gerard's proposal is that the Assistant Secretary with one deputy function at the departmental level and the Commissioner and a deputy operate at the bureau level.

Gerard said that this arrangement would permit the Assistant Secretary to give undivided attention to his "responsibilities as principal advisor and policy maker for the Secretary on matters of Indian affairs affecting the whole Department and the Administration, " while the Commissioner provides needed leadership and direction for the Bureau.

The new organization structure calls for a strong planning and evaluation function within the Office of the Assistant Secretary. Two staff offices are proposed.

One would be concerned with oversight of administrative functions, reviewing the allocation, use and control of resources. Functions would include fiscal audits, personnel and procurement reviews and ADP policy planning.

The other staff office reporting to the Assistant Secretary would be responsible for policy, planning and evaluation. Functions would include policy formulation and analysis, management and program audits and systems and action plan development.

The reorganization plan calls for a review of each area office to determine the future role each should have. Gerard said he did not think the area offices need to be mirror images of the central office nor identical to each other. He said these offices might reflect the diversity among tribes with structures designed to meet tribal problems.

Eliminating the area offices, a recommendation of the American Indian Policy Review Commission, would have resulted in a minimum of 82 agency superintendents reporting directly to Washington. Gerard described this as an "unworkable" span of control for the Commissioner.

Gerard stressed that "a fundamental prerequisite to implementing the reorganization of the Bureau of Indian Affairs is the involvement of Indian tribes and Alaska Native groups. These will be consulted on actions that affect service delivery to their people throughout this effort. "