Past News Items

ON TUESDAY, DEC. 8, 2009, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Attorney General Eric Holder will make a major announcement. Credentialed news media are invited to attend the 10:30 AM Eastern Time announcement in the South Penthouse of the Main Interior Building or to join a moderated media teleconference by dialing 1-800-857-9808 and entering the access code 5212385.

Who: Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar Attorney General Eric Holder

What: Major news announcement

The Attorney General, Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of the Interior today announced they will serve for the Carter Administration as a task force to work on the Washington state salmon fishing controversy.

The controversy involves the development of salmon fishing in the context of Indian treaty rights and the economic problems of non-Indian fishermen. The task force will seek to develop discussions that will lead to long-range protection, management and enhancement of the salmon fishing industry.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced a competition for students attending high schools and tribal colleges funded by the Bureau of Indian Education that will promote careers in the fields of green and renewable energy. The Indian Education Renewable Energy Challenge is being sponsored by the BIE in partnership with the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory (ANL).

A long-range plan to give Indian schools and communities better library services is being developed by the Department of the Interior through its Office of Library and Information Services and the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Indian Education Programs.

Interior's professional librarians, together with BIA educators, are working on the project. They are being assisted by five resource persons with special experience and knowledge.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk has begun his administration by moving quickly to begin discussions with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, tribal leaders and tribal organizations on economic, energy, education, public safety and other issues that need to be addressed in Indian Country.

A draft environmental impact statement on a proposal to surface mine Crow Indian and State-owned coal from more than 2,000 acres in south central Montana has been prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, and released for public comment.

The statement, filed with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), discusses the environmental effects of a proposed expansion of Westmoreland Resources existing Absaloka Coal Mine to 2,151 acres (870 hectares) in Crow Indian Ceded Lands in northern Big Horn County just north of the Crow Indian Reservation.

WASHINGTON – Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Economic Development – Indian Affairs George T. Skibine today announced the names of three individuals who have received career appointments to Senior Executive Service (SES) positions within the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). They are Stephanie E. Birdwell as the Deputy Director for Policy, Evaluation and Post Secondary Education, Bartholomew “Bart” Stevens as the Deputy Director for School Operations and David Talayumptewa as the Assistant Deputy Director for Administration. The appointments became effective on January 4, 2009.

Approximately 20 percent of the Central Arizona Project (CAP) agricultural water supply available under Arizona's basic entitlement to water from the Colorado River has been allocated to five Indian tribes by Secretary of the Interior Thomas S. Kleppe.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that proposed regulations for the implementation of the Indian Financing Act are being published in the Federal Register September 3, 1974.

Thompson said that full funding of $80 million is being sought for the Act, which was approved by President Nixon April 12, 1974.

The Indian Financing Act of 1974 itself:

WASHINGTON - Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman will speak on Thursday, May 3,2007, at the 16th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial Service. The event will take place at the United States Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M. The Bureau of lndian Affairs holds the service each year to honor tribal, state and federal law enforcement personnel killed in the line of duty while working on Federal Indian lands or in tribal communities.