OPA

The Department or the Interior today announced the award of a $331,445 contract for construction or new dormitory facilities at Magdalena, New Mexico, that will make it possible for 128 Navajo children from the surrounding area to attend the local public schools.

Some of the children to be accommodated in the new dormitory are now enrolled in the nearby Indian Bureau boarding school at Alamo. Others currently living in Bureau facilities at the Albuquerque Indian School will be brought closer to home. Some will be able to attend school for the first time with the completion of the new facilities.

The project consists of a one-story building that will contain not only sleeping quarters but kitchen and dining facilities. The children, ranging in age from 6 to 16, will attend the Magdalena public schools under arrangements that have been worked out with the local school board.

The successful bidder was Taylor and Medley Construction Company of Albuquerque. Fourteen higher bids were received ranging from $332,888 to $386,241.

Assistant Secretary of the Interior Roger Ernst today announced approval of the action of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation of Oregon in leasing 344 acres at McNary Dam town site for industrial development purposes to two California trailer manufacturing companies.

The land being leased was formerly surplus Federal property and has just recently been turned over to the Umatilla tribes by the General Services Administration under a law enacted by Congress in 1957. It will be used as the location for new trailer manufacturing or assembly plants that will provide jobs for Indian workers.

The actual lessees are two brothers, Robert and William Schultz, and their wives. They are the owners of R. S. Engineering and Manufacturing Company, Los Angeles, Calif., and S. and S. Steel Products Corporation, Compton, Calif. Both are trailer manufacturing companies.

The lease will run for five years with an option for two additional terms of five years each. First preference in employment will be given to enrolled members of the Umatilla Tribes and second preference to other qualified Indian workers.

The Schultz brothers have indicated that they will employ “approximately 20 production workers as soon as the buildings are ready, and will increase the production workers as rapidly as business conditions will permit." They have also agreed to provide Indians with on-the-job training that will equip them for employment in the plants.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs played a part in facilitating negotiation of the lease in line with its broad objective of developing job opportunities for Indian people on or near the reservations.

The Bureau's Branch of Industrial Development works toward this objective in conjunction with Indian tribes, local community organizations, and State industrial development or planning groups.

The Department of the Interior today announced completion of a trust agreement under which the United States National Bank of Portland, Oregon, replaces the Bureau of Indian Affairs as trustee for the tribal property of the remaining members of the Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon.

Under terms of the agreement, the Indian Bureau’s Area Office in Portland, yesterday (March 3) conveyed to the Bank deeds for a total of approximately 140,000 acres of land together with $737,608.61 of tribal funds. The major portion of the tribal land is forested and will be managed by the Bank in accordance with sustained yield principles under a plan previously approved by the Department.

The Bank also took over full authority and responsibility formerly vested in the Secretary of the Interior in connection with timber contracts and grazing permits on the tribal lands which have not yet expired.

A roll of the 473 remaining members of the Tribe was turned over to the Bank along with the other documents on March 3.

In addition, the Bank has taken over responsibility for deciding on a request which the remaining tribal members have recently made for a $600 per capita payment from their available funds. Because the request was made at a time when negotiations with the Bank were well along toward completion, no action was taken on it by the Department prior to final execution of the trust agreement.

The 130,000 man-days of recreational fishing which a fishery management program provided to visitors alone on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Whiteriver, Ariz., in 1958 is creating considerable interest in similar programs on other Indian reservations, especially in the West, the Department of the Interior reports.

The successful recreational enterprise program on Fort Apache was based upon fishery management spearheaded by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Similar programs have been in effect in other areas--the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota and on other reservations--for a number of years.

Sport fishing programs are just getting underway on the Uintah-Ouray Reservation in Utah, with its 23 miles of trout streams; on the Navajo Reservation which is in New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, with its 4 trout lakes, 30 warm water lakes and 32 miles of streams; on the Yakima and Colville Reservations in Washington, and on the Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina.

Providing such assistance to Federal agencies and institutions is part of the over-all responsibility of the Fish and Wildlife Service. Programs are in effect in other areas and on Federal lands other than those on Indian reservations.

Very little has been done in the past on the development of the fishery potentials on Indian lands. State Departments of Fish and Game have not been able to service the Indians in most instances since State fishing licenses are not required of the Indians and no protection was afforded the fish.

As a result of the assistance and encouragement provided by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Indians are realizing the value of their sport fishery resources as a means of recreation and food and revenue.

Some of the tribes in the Southwest don’t eat fish to any great degree but the younger Indians are eager for them, both for the fun of catching them and as a highly desirable food. There are practically 53 million acres of Indian land in the United States exclusive of Alaska and the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife is giving limited advice and services on reservations occupying about 16 million acres.

The task of the Bureau at Fort Apache has been to supply the fish and the "know how" - help develop plans, conduct field surveys and layout development programs. The Apache tribe carried on from there. The Indians have assisted in making counts of fishermen, in the actual stocking of the fish, in providing the wardens or investigative force and in the development of picnic areas and campgrounds especially for fishermen. They have developed new ponds and protected streams against erosion and overgrazing in some instances.

The Indians benefitted by having better fishing and by adding to their tribal funds through the sale of permits to those who fished in the waters on the Reservation. The sale of supplies and food and rental of overnight accommodations adds to the revenue.

Fish for the Fort Apache program was furnished by the Bureau's McNary, Arizona, Fish Cultural station. About 40,000 pounds, or about 250,000 catchable sized fish, were planted on the project. This represents slightly more than half of the 1958 output from the McNary hatchery. The balance of the production was allotted to the state.

When the fishing potential on that Reservation is completely developed, there will be 11 trout lakes having 374 surface acres, three warm-water lakes with 155 surface acres and 320 miles of streams.

Potentials on other Indian reservations, some of which are developed, but most of which are not, include:

• Wind River, Wyoming: 300 trout lakes, 4,000 surface acres, and 1,200 miles of streams.
• San Carlos, Arizona: 45 miles of streams.
• United Pueblo Tribes, New Mexico: 16 trout lakes, 76 surface acres, and 35 miles of streams.
• Mescalero Apache, New Mexico: 12 miles of streams.
• Jicarilla Apache, New Mexico: one trout lake, 35 surface acres, some warm water lands and reservoirs.
• Ute Mountain, Colorado and New Mexico: three trout lakes, six surface acres; four warm water lakes and 11 surface acres.

Further exploration of coal resources in the lands of the Navajo Indian Reservation that may lead to a development expenditure of more than $1,000,000 and employment of as many as 200 Indians is now definitely in prospect, the Department of the Interior announced today.

The exploration will be done by the El Paso Natural Gas Company under a preferential prospecting permit covering 85,760 acres on the New Mexico portion of the Navajo Reservation. The area lies immediately south of a 25,000-acre area which bas been under a coal mining lease held by the Utah Construction Company since the fall of 1957.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons ;aid that under terms of the new permit, El Paso will have a maximum of 18 months in which to select acreage for leasing that will provide a 60-year coal reserve. The leased area will be limited to 34,560 acres unless the Company can demonstrate its need for additional acreage to supply the 60-year reserve.

El Paso has indicated that it contemplates processing the coal for two major purposes. One will be production of gas to be mixed with natural gas carried in the Company's pipelines which already cross the area. The other will be production of liquid hydrocarbon components of motor fuels. Additional expected by-products include char, tar and chemicals.

The Company has stated that if sufficient reserves are discovered and it exercises its option to lease, it will spend "not less than $1,000,000” in development of the coal and construction of a pilot plant. Employment will be furnished, the Company estimated, to 50 Navajos during the initial mining and pilot plant period and this employment could be expected to increase to 200 Navajos under full- scale mining and processing operations.

If the lease is consummated after the prospecting period, it will run for 10 years and as long thereafter as the coal is produced in paying quantities.

Royalties for the tribe will be at the rate of 15 cents a ton for coal used as fuel or processed into gas or liquid motor fuel components and at the rate of 10 percent of the f.o.b. sales price on other products or by-products. The total royalty for these products, however, is not to exceed 30 cents per ton of the coal mined.

Rental payments of $1 per acre, which are to be made in advance each year under the lease, are to be credited against the royalty payments accruing in that particular year.

While the prospecting permit and the lease have not yet been put into effect, Mr. Emmons said that the two documents have been agreed upon by the tribe and the Company and have been found satisfactory by the Department. The Area Director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Gallup, New Mexico, W. Wade Head, has been authorized to give formal approval to the prospecting permit on behalf of the Department and is expected to do so in the next few days.

Twenty-nine proposals to lease lands on the Dania Indian Reservation in south Florida for commercial or industrial development have been received by the Seminole tribal organization since the availability of the lands for leasing was publicly announced last August, the Department of the Interior reported today.

The most recent offer, which is now being considered by the tribal organization, is for unit leasing of the entire available area comprising about 318 acres. Under this proposal the Tribe would receive a guaranteed minimum annual rental of $150,000 or 12 percent of the gross receipts from sub rentals, whichever is greater. The type of development contemplated includes the construction of housing facilities of a permanent nature together with a golf course, a motel, and other related facilities.

All of the other 28 proposals received earlier were for leasing of smaller parcels.

The acreage being offered is located in a rapidly growing section of Florida immediately west of Dania, and is bisected by four-lane State Highway No.7 with about a mile and a quarter of frontage directly on the highway. It includes all lands of the 475-acre Dania Reservation apart from acreage which has been reserved for Indian home sites and for ceremonial and administrative purposes.

Since the lands are held in trust by the Federal Government for the Indians, they can be leased only with the approval of the Department of the Interior. Under existing law, leases can be made for 25 years with a possibility of a 25-year renewal.

The Department feels sure that the tribal organization would welcome additional leasing proposals comparable to the one most recently received. Interested parties should write to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Inc., care of Superintendent Virgil Harrington, Box 157, Dania, Florida.

Because of fire safety hazards involved in student dormitories, the Bureau of Indian Affairs is taking action immediately to close its 500-pupil school at Fort Defiance, Arizona, on the Navajo Reservation, the Department of the Interior announced today.

Arrangements will be made so that all of the presently enrolled students can finish the current term either by transferring to other reservation schools immediately, or by taking summer school instruction. Plans are also being made to place all of them in other school facilities for the new term which starts next fall.

The decision to close the Fort Defiance school was made by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons after consideration of alternatives, and consultation with Navajo Tribal Chairman Paul Jones. Mr. Jones, now in Washington on tribal business, concurred in the decision.

The students at Fort Defiance include both boys and girls enrolled in grades from the beginners through the fourth. Practically all are Navajo Indian children.

The dormitories which have been found unsafe for further occupancy are approximately 50 years old.

The Department of the Interior announced today that it has taken joint action with the Department of Agriculture in designating 11 units of the Klamath Indian Forest in Oregon to be offered for sale over & period of about 16 months starting sometime after April 1.

The two Departments have also agreed upon specifications and minimum require9nts for sustained-yield management of the units which must be followed by purchasers under provisions of the Klamath Termination Act of 1954, as amended.

The units selected total over 617,000 acres and range in size from about 35,000 acres to more than 91,000. In volume of timber the range is from about 69 million board feet to over 548 million board feet.

The law also provides that the units may not be sold at less than their realization value as established in a recent review of an appraisal originally made as of February 28, 1957. Total realization value of the 11 units to be offered is $70,352,873 and the range is from $1,636,182 to $13,345,495.

The first group of four units will be advertised for sale sometime after April 1, three other units will be advertised around July 1, and the remaining four units around November 1. Full details about the units being offered and the requirements for sustained-yield management will be set forth in the advertisements.

Proceeds of the sales will be used to compensate persons who have elected to withdraw from the Klamath Tribe in accordance with the Termination Act.

If any of the units are not sold by April 1, 1961, they will be purchased by the Government and added to the national forest system.

Under the law any enrolled member of the Klamath Tribe is given the right to purchase, for his own account but not as an agent for others, any of the offered units for not less than the highest offer received by competitive bid.

Award of a $176,168 contract to rehabilitate approximately 1,200 acres of land on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation in northern Nevada, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The contract calls for re-leveling of the land and the construction of canals, laterals and water control structures. The work to be done is part of an over-all program to develop available resources on the Duck Valley Reservation for use by Indian families.

The improvements will stabilize the livestock program in this isolated community, where it is necessary to feed the cattle hay approximately five months of the year because of the extreme winters. Heretofore the land has been under uncontrolled irrigation without a control system of canals.

The successful bidder was Milco Construction Company of Delta, Utah. Thirteen higher bids ranging from $188,980.66 to $229,051.95 were received.

Completion of the final membership roll of the Peoria Indian Tribe of Oklahoma, following the disposition of all appeals, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The preliminary membership roll, published in the Federal Register May 9, 1957, included 624 individuals. The net result of additions and subtractions made as a consequence of appeals to the Secretary of the Interior is a final roll of 640.

Under a 1956 congressional law, Federal trusteeship of the Peoria property is to be ended by next August 2.