Past News Items

A Forestry Service Center to help Indians develop productive capacities of their commercial forest lands has been established at Littleton, Colo., in the Denver metropolitan area, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today.

The new office will be directly under the Central Office of the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs, and initially will be staffed with six employees. Bruce said the Cen­ter is centrally located to most Indian reservations.

It is a great pleasure to be here and l am highly honored to address this first graduating class of reservation Police officers trained at Brigham City, which represents the beginning of a new era and a new chapter in Indian community self-awareness.

I bring greetings from Secretary of the Interior Morton and the regrets of the Assistant to the Secretary for Indian Affairs Marvin Franklin who could not accept your invitation because of pressing matters in Washington.

This graduation marks a milestone in the progress of Indian people towards self-determination.

SPOKANE, WASH. — The third government-to-government tribal consultation regarding the Indian Affairs Administrative Organizational Assessment Draft Report and Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education streamlining plans starts Thursday, April 26, 2012 at the Northern Quest Resort and Casino, Wash. The two-day consultation is the third of seven that will take place around the country in Arizona, Florida, South Dakota, Oklahoma, California and Alaska. The first was held in Miami on April 12 and 13, 2012.

Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton said today he has directed the Bureau of Indian Affairs to review the termination program affecting the Klamath Indians in Oregon, with a view to preparing appropriate amendments to the Klamath Termination Act of 1954 for presentation to Congress early next year.

The proposals would be designed particularly to protect the Klamath timber-land and the tribe's interests in this resource, the Secretary said.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Officials from the White House and the U.S. Department of the Interior held a Reclaiming our Native Communities Roundtable in Nome, Alaska and a Public Safety Listening Session in Bethel, Alaska this week to discuss ways to address public safety challenges in the region.

WASHINGTON – Today, February 13, 2012, Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk will provide an overview of the Obama administration’s proposed fiscal year 2013 budget for the Indian Affairs in a 3 p.m. EST teleconference for news media representatives.

The telephone conference can be accessed by dialing 1-800-369-3172 and entering the code 11954. Following the presentation, there will be a question and answer session for news media reporters.

A special three-day Polar Plan Conference on Arctic problems ended today with direction from Secretary of the Interior Walter J. Hickel that future plans for the area should be viewed from an international standpoint.

"Knowledge of the world's polar regions will change not only the countries bordering on the Arctic -- it will change economic, social and cultural conditions throughout the world," Secretary Hickel said.

"I urge you to think of the Arctic as a single entity, so that all nations can contribute to its conservation and the wise use of its resources," he said.

Washington, D.C. – For the second year in a row, a coalition of federal agencies are working together to address the issue of how to close the digital divide and increase internet access in Indian Country. This year, the Interior Department and the Institute of Museum and Library Services are partnering with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Service and the U.S.

WASHINGTON — With the goal of better preserving and enhancing the natural and cultural heritage of the nation’s public lands and waters, five U.S. government agencies today joined the National Geographic Society in a ceremony at Society headquarters unveiling a ground-breaking framework to formally adopt the principles of geotourism.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons announced today that he has asked the Solicitor1s Office of the Department of the Interior for advice on questions of law involved in a proposed 25-year oil and gas development contract between the Navajo Indian Tribe and the Delhi-Taylor Oil Corporation of Dallas, Texas.

The proposed contract, which covers about 5,000,000 acres or nearly a third of the entire Navajo Reservation in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, was recently submitted to Commissioner Emmons by Chairman Paul Jones of the Navajo Tribal Council.