Past News Items

Dear Sir or Madam:

In view of the special concern of all persons interested in Indian affairs in the extension of the Indian Claims Commission Act, I am attaching a copy of the Department's most recent report on this important legislation.

Sincerely yours,

June 25, 1956

My dear Senator Murray:

Appointment of Charles B. Rovin as Chief, Branch of Welfare, Bureau of Indian Affairs, succeeding Robert W. Beasley, who resigned effective March 1, was announced today by Commissioner Glenn L. Emmons.

Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton today called attention to the final roll of the Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon which is being published in the Federal Register dated November 2.

The roll, comprising 2,133 names, was compiled under the Klamath Termination Act of 1954 and represents the final listing of tribal members after disposition of all appeals that have been made to the Secretary. Only those people on the roll are entitled under the Termination Act to share in the benefits of tribal property.

Acting Secretary of the Interior Hatfield Chilson today announced the receipt of cashier's checks in the amount of $40,000 from S. W. Barton, president of Colorado River Enterprises, Inc., representing payment of advance rental on two tracts involved in the corporation's 25-year lease on 67,000 acres of the Colorado River Indian Reservation in Arizona.

The Department of the Interior today announced award of a road construction contract calling for asphalt paving of approximately 8.141 miles of the Chuichu-Covered Wells Road on the Papago Indian Reservation, about 27 miles south of Casa Grande, Arizona, in Pima and Pinal counties.

The contract was awarded to Palmer Contracting Company, Phoenix. Its bid of $248,164.80 was the lowest of 12 received. The others ranged from $249,280 to $310,770.02.

An increase in fees which the Bureau of Indian Affairs charges to cover costs of preparing grazing permits on Indian rangeland was announced today by Under Secretary of the Interior Hatfield Chilson.

Higher charges were recommended by the Comptroller General. In a report to Congress the Comptroller General said that the fees structure should be based on the objective of covering the cost of the services rendered, and that the former schedule was wholly inadequate to meet actual administrative costs of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Award of a contract for grading, draining and crushed-gravel surfacing of 13.4 miles of road on the Lower Brule Indian Reservation in Lyman County, S. Dak., to R. C. Van Houten and Sons, Rapid City, . S. Dak., was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Van Houten's bid of $112,882.94 was the lowest of eight received. The others ranged from $115,985.94 to $168,140.82.

To stimulate wider competitive bidding and more active development of Indian-owned mineral resources, the Department of the Interior has substantially liberalized the acreage limitations in the Federal regulations governing the mineral leasing of Indian lands, it was announced today.

Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton today announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs will step up its program of helping natives of Alaska modernize their fishing vessels so that they can compete more effectively by using the most efficient mechanical devices on their seine boats.

Proposed regulations governing the removal of Federal trust restrictions from lands belonging to Indians of the Five Civilized Tribes of eastern Oklahoma, in response to requests from the owners, were announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Regulations covering such removal in cases where there is no 'application from the owner were recently adopted by the Department and published in the Federal Register August 22, 1958.