OPA

A $34 million Bureau of Reclamation contract has been approved for award on September 22, for construction of the Central Arizona Project's Havasu Pumping Plant on the Bill Williams Arm of Lake Havasu, Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus announced today.

The Secretary said the contract will go to S. J Groves and Sons Co., Sparks, Nevada, on the lowest of 13 bids opened in Phoenix last August 16. Guy F. Atkinson, Company, South San Francisco, California, was second with $34.3 million while Mardian Construction Company, Phoenix was third low bidder with $34.6 million. The Engineer's Estimate was $30.8 million. There was less than $5 million difference between the lowest and the highest of the 13 bids.

The job calls for construction of a reinforced concrete pumping plant structure with dimensions of 304 by 137 feet; two 12-foot inside diameter steel discharge pipes; and intake channel and inlet transition. Also included are metalwork, mechanical items, and embedded parts of electrical systems; roadways, service yard, parking area, highway detour, highway bridge and flood protective drain.

­­

The building, most of which will be below ground surface, will be constructed in a previously excavated area. It will house six pumping units, each with a capacity of 500-cubic-feet-per-seond, and other equipment. The contractor will have 975 days to complete the work. Commissioner Higginson said this will be the third of four major contracts required to deliver water from Lake Havasu into the Granite Reef Aqueduct, which has a capacity of 3,000 cubic feet per second.

The first was construction of the Lake Havasu Intake Channel Dike and partial excavation of the pumping plant site completed in 1973. The second is construction of the 6.8-mile-long Buckskin Mountains Tunnel, begun in 1975 and scheduled to be completed in early 1980. The fourth will be for purchase of the pumps and motors for the Havasu Pumping Plant in 1979. Higginson said the Havasu Pumping Plant, when completed, will lift an average of 1.2 million acre-feet of Colorado River water annually about 800 feet from Lake Havasu to the inlet portal of the Buckskin Mountains Tunnel through two buried discharge pipes. The tunnel will deliver the water into the Granite Reef Aqueduct, now under construction, for a 190-mile trip to the south side of the Salt River in eastern metropolitan Phoenix. An extension of the aqueduct system will carry water as far as Tucson.

The Central Arizona Project will deliver supplemental water to farms cities, and industries in the Phoenix-Tucson Area. First delivery of water to the Phoenix area is scheduled in 1985 and to the Tucson area in 1987.

Senator Milton Young of North Dakota and Robert Richmond, a Brunswick Corporation executive, will be honored for "outstanding contributions to economic development on American Indian reservations," Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Forrest Gerard announced today.

Bureau of Indian Affairs' Economic Development Award plaques will be presented to the honorees October 19 in a ceremony on the Fort Totten Reservation in North Dakota.

Senator Young has helped the Devils Lake Sioux Tribe, the Turtle Mountain Tribe and the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation to establish and develop tribal business ventures. The three firms have more than 400 employees, most of them tribal members.

Richmond is a general manager of the Devils Lake Sioux Manufacturing Corporation, a joint venture of the tribe and the Brunswick Corporation. The company, started in 1973 under Richmond's direction, has been a very successful enterprise. It was recently awarded a $13 million contract for the manufacture of camouflage materials for the army. Richmond initiated a college work program for employee’s children and through incentive programs and other programs has made the plant a Brunswick production leader.

Assistant Secretary Gerard, who will make the presentation of the awards, said that "Senator Young and Bob Richmond have been true friends of the Indians of North Dakota. Senator Young has been a consistent supporter of Indian economic development; his guidance and encouragement have been most beneficial. Bob Richmond has given his technical expertise to the Devils Lake Sioux venture. But he has also brought a genuine sense of concern and human caring to help members of the tribe to learn and to perform -- so that the company is truly a tribal venture."

Award of an $198,000 contract to Price, Waterhouse & Co. to aid the efforts of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to bring integrity in the use and control of funds to the Bureau's financial and accounting systems was announced today by Interior Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard.

Gerard said "Project Integrity" is at the heart of a general Bureau overhaul to clarify how funds are used and their purchasing power in programs and services designed to benefit the Indian people. The scope of the contracted project ranges from improvement of financial recording and reporting systems to development of program performance standards, and will establish administrative programmatic review techniques.

"At my confirmation hearing," Gerard recalled, "I promised the Senate Committee and the Indian people that the BIA would address questions about the effective use and control of BIA money. To fulfill this promise, I have initiated 'Project Integrity.' This contract award to Price, Waterhouse is a major step toward achievement of 'Project Integrity' goals: attainment of the highest standard in BIA fiscal management and significant improvement in the federal-Indian delivery system."

In April of this year, the Assistant Secretary informed the BIA field staff of his "Project Integrity" plans, explaining that, while much of the work would be done by BIA staff, "outside expertise is also needed to bring to the Project an unbiased, objective and broad-based perspective."

Work under the contract is planned for four phases: 1) information gathering and identification of needs and problems, to be conducted through extensive consultation with tribal personnel and BIA staff; 2) improving the financial recording and reporting systems; 3) designing program performance measures and reporting systems; and 4) developing standards and procedures for administrative and programmatic reviews.

With the salmon spawning run on the Klamath River in California nearly over, the Department of the Interior announced today that it is opening portions of the river to Indian subsistence fishing.

The action, which is effective at 12:01 A.M., October 11, 1978, follows earlier closure of the entire river to commercial fishing and portions of the river to subsistence fishing by the Yurok and Hoopa Indian tribes. The earlier closure order was based on surveys by biologists of the Department's Fish and Wildlife Service and State of California which indicated that the number of fish entering the river was very low compared to previous years.

With the 1978 run almost complete, interior officials indicated that reopening of the Indian subsistence fishing, under the rules promulgated early in July, will not substantially harm the fishery.

Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus said today that the Department's aim from the outset has been to take all necessary actions to save the salmon resource. "While I regret it was necessary to curtail Indian and other fishing on the river, I am delighted that present indications are that we have succeeded and that the fishery resource, with proper management, can be preserved," he said.

Biologists now believe that the 1978 Chinook run will approximate 125,000 fish, or about 90% of expected numbers. Although the size of the returning population is reduced, they said, the closure instituted by in-season adjustments resulted in about 100,000 of the returning fish reaching the spawning area.

With proper management of future off-shore and river fishing efforts, this population will perpetuate the run, they said. Indiscriminate fishing pressure will further reduce the population, they warned, unless sound management practices such as the restricting of fishing effort, both offshore and in the river, are implemented in the future.

Fishery biologists will continue to monitor the fishery and use data collected in formulating future management plans and operations.

A formal agreement has been signed by the Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining (OSM) with the Council of Energy Resource Tribes (CERT) of Washington, D.C., for a comprehensive $700,000 study of surface mining of coal on Indian lands, OSM Director Walter N. Heine announced today.

The study, expected to take nine months, was contracted by OSM under Section 710 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. CERT was organized three years ago by 25 Indian tribes.

"The CERT report," Heine said, "will be incorporated into a broader study being undertaken by the Interior Department to examine the question of regulation of surface mining on Indian lands in compliance with the new Federal law which recognizes the special jurisdictional status of these Indian lands."

Heine said the Secretary's study also will be performed in consulta­tion with Indian tribes, and will incorporate proposed legislation designed to allow the tribes to elect to assume full regulatory authority over the administration and enforcement of surface mining.

The CERT study is scheduled for completion by July 31, 1979, he reported. The report has several major objectives. These include:

• providing background information, analysis and evaluation capabilities to assure regulatory authority over surface mining of their lands;
• enabling the affected tribes to evaluate their functional of tribes organizations and structures and
• Developing regulatory program models consistent with both tribal capabilities and the goals and objectives of the 1977 Federal Act.

It was noted that CERT membership, according to a tribe magazine, claims ownership of 15 percent of total U.S. coal reserves, including 30 percent of all surface coal reserves west of the Mississippi River. In 1974, a CERT spokesman said, Indian lands yielded over 15 million tons of coal.

Assistant Secretary Forrest J. Gerard announced today actions in the ongoing effort to organize and improve the management systems and structure of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus and Under Secretary James Joseph announced September 21, 1978, that they had reviewed and approved the general principles of a reorganization plan for the administration of Indian Affairs. Although the reorganization plan has not been given final approval by Andrus and Joseph pending analysis by them of all details of the plant they have given authorization.to begin implementation of some features of the reorganization.

The first steps of the pIan includes a vigorous search for a BIA Commissioner, appointment of an interim agency head, immediate assignment of a Gerard deputy to direct and concentrate full effort on the BIA Management Improvement Project, and establishment of two planning and evaluation offices at the Assistant Secretary level.

The actions "maintain the integrity of the recommendations of the Secretary's Task Force on BIA Reorganization, while reflecting the analyses and comments of tribal leaders and employee-review teams," stated Gerard. One Task Force recommendation called for an Indian Affairs structure of an Assistant Secretary, three deputies, and an agency head.

"Our plan," Gerard explained, "follows a less cumbersome and more conventional structure: an Assistant Secretary, with one deputy at the Departmental level, and a Commissioner, with one deputy at the Bureau level. This structure permits the Assistant Secretary to give greater attention to the responsibilities as principal policy advisor to the Secretary on Indian matters affecting the Administration, while the Commissioner will provide needed leadership and direction for the Bureau on a daily basis."

The Assistant Secretary said that his office "will oversee the selection process and tribal consultation which will lead to the nomination and confirmation of the Commissioner. It is essential that the person be in place early in 1979." As an interim measure, Gerard announced the temporary appointment of Martin E. Seneca, Jr., as Acting Deputy Commissioner and LaFollette Butler as Acting Assistant to the Deputy Commissioner. They will serve as functional and operational heads of the Bureau until the selection and confirmation of the BIA Commissioner. Seneca, a Seneca Indian, is Director of the Office of Trust Responsibilities, and Butler, a Cherokee, is Special Assistant to the Phoenix Area Director.

In this phase of the action plan, the Assistant Secretary:

• Assigned Deputy Assistant Secretary George V. Goodwin to head the Management Improvement Project, directing at the Departmental level the implementation of the overall effort to organize the BIA management systems. "This assignment of my top administrative staff to devote full attention to this vital Project demonstrates the seriousness with which the Secretary, Under Secretary and I approach our responsibility to meet the critical needs in Indian country through an efficient, effective and organized trust services agency." Gerard said.
• Assigned Deputy Assistant Secretary Rick C. Lavis to serve in a generalized capacity at the Departmental level, with functional duties broadened beyond his present designation as deputy for program operations. --Announced that: two new offices will be established in the Office of the Assistant Secretary to provide a stronger planning and evaluation function at that level.
• Announced the continuation of the BIA Area Offices as intermediate levels of authority, with future changes in the role of the 12 offices to be determined by future action plans and office-by-office reviews.
• Announced a review of administrative procedures to determine which authorities are to be delegated to the lowest operating level of the BIA and whether economies can be achieved by eliminating overlapping functions

Anthony Whirlwind Horse, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs agency
on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Whirlwind Horse has been the Education Program Administrator at the agency. He succeeds Albert Trimble who is now Tribal Chairman of
the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Whirlwind Horse, 48, went to work at Pine Ridge as a teacher in 1957. He spent four years, 1963-67, at the neighboring Cheyenne River
Agency as a Principal-Teacher and then returned to Pine Ridge as a principal in 1967.

A navy veteran, he attended Bacone College and Northeastern State, Tahlequah, both in Oklahoma. He earned a B.S. in education from Black
Hills State College, Spearfish, South Dakota and an M. S. in education from Northern State College, Aberdee, South Dakota.

Billie D. Ott has been appointed Assistant Director for Management Services in the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Administration,
Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Ott, a member of the Choctaw Tribe of Oklahoma, has been Assistant Director for Support Services in the Administration office. In his new position he replaces Sidney Mills who is now Executive Assistant to the Commissioner.

A Naval Academy graduate, Ott worked in private industry before coming to the Bureau in 1975. He was the Vice President and General Manager of Eastern Operations for the General Telephone and Electronics, Information Systems in Stamford, Connecticut from 1973-75.

A native of Comanche, Oklahoma, Ott resigned from military service in 1958 after combat service in Korea and completing flight training
as a Naval aviator.

The appointment of Ronald L. Esquerra as his executive assistant was announced today by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson. Esquerra 29, is an enrolled member of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe.

"Ron has an impressive record of achievement," the Commissioner said. "He will be working very closely with me and will be a valuable asset for the Bureau and for Indian people."

The duties of the new executive assistant will include coordination of activities of the Commissioner's immediate staff, supervision of the appointment schedule and liaison with other agencies and offices.

Esquerra was the Indian Field Officer in Phoenix, Arizona for the Office of Minority Business Enterprise. .In this capacity he managed federal contracts and provided program assistance to Indian contractors in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Nevada. He had previously worked in the Economic Development Administration as Deputy Special Assistant for Indian Affairs to the Assistant Secretary.

As a Ford Foundation Leadership Development Fellow in 1970-71, Esquerra worked in numerous Federal, state and tribal Indian programs. While completing graduate work at Arizona State University, he was also Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Arizona State Indian Community Action Program. Esquerra majored in Business Management at Brigham Young University where he graduated with honors in 1966. After a two-year stint in military service he earned a Masters in Business Administration at Arizona State.

He is perhaps the only Indian to complete the certification program of the American Mortgage Bankers Association. Esquerra grew up on the Colorado River Indian Reservation. In 1973 he was listed in the publication Outstanding Young Americans.

The Chairman of the Colville Indian Tribal Council, Eddie A. Palmanteer, Jr., has been named Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Colville Agency. Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Morris Thompson, announced the appointment effective October 13. The tribe's Vice Chairman, Al Aubertin, will move into the Chairman's position until the next election.

"Eddie Palmanteer is a competent, hard working person,” Commissioner Thompson said. "We consulted with the tribal council about filling this position and he was their nominee. I think he is an excellent choice."

The Agency serves only the Colville Reservation which is located about 90 miles northwest of Spokane, Washington. It is the largest reservation in that state, The tribe has about 5,360 members.

Palmanteer, who is a full blood Colville Indian, has held many positions with the tribe. Before being elected Chairman, he was Assistant Manager of the Colville Indian Tribal Enterprises. He has also served as Business Manager, Employment 0fficer and Enrollment Officer for the tribe, He has had previous experience with the Bureau of Indian Affairs as an Enrollment Officer for the Western Washington Agency and Tribal Operations Officer for the Nevada Agency.

Palmanteer, 42, is a veteran and an alumnus of the Wenatchee Valley College.