Past News Items

Interior Assistant Secretary Eddie Brown has ordered the Bureau of Indian Affairs to tighten the procedures for leasing of Indian lands in the Palm Springs, California, area and to put in place regulations specifically designed to fit long-term business leasing needs of the Agua Caliente Indian landowners.

"We have seen evidence of leases negotiated many years ago that do not meet today's market value. Future leases must contain provisions for escalation when land values skyrocket," Brown said.

A $116,373.90 contract for construction work on 5.603 miles of road on the Soboba and Pechanga Indian Reservations in Riverside County, California, has been awarded to the Hubbs Equipment Co., P.O. Box 17; Colton, California, the Department of the Interior announced today.

The Hubbs bid was the lowest of sixteen received. The others ranged from $117,597.05 to $159,761.00. Bids were opened by the Bureau of Public Roads.

Forty-three Indian tribal leaders and officials of the Department of the Interior (DOI) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) will meet January 27-29 at Washington, D.C.'s Dulles Airport to finalize a report to the Secretary of the Interior on the reorganization of the BIA.

Award of a $298,469.48 contract for construction of additional irrigation works on the Hogback Unit of the Navajo Indian reservation near Shiprock, New Mexico, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Two major items are included in the contract: (1) 5,932 linear feet of main canal with a capacity of 130 cubic feet per second, and (2) 3,600 linear feet of 60 inch diameter steel pipe across Malpais Arroyo.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan announced today that he is directing the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) to issue a renewable 5-year permit for the Kayenta coal mine on Indian land in northeastern Arizona Lujan will defer a permit decision on the adjoining Black Mesa mine pending the analysis of additional information on water resource impacts In addition Lujan has ordered a study of alternatives to the use of the existing slurry-pipeline to transport coal

Award of two contracts totaling $255,749 for road and bridge construction on the Cheyenne River and Lower Brule Indian Reservations in South Dakota was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The Department of the Interior today signed a contract with Security Pacific National Bank of Los Angeles to strengthen internal management and administration of more than $1.8 billion in Indian trust funds.

"This contract will provide better management of resources belonging to individual Indians and tribes," Secretary of the Interior Don Hodel said at a contract signing ceremony in his office. "And the federal government will save almost $3 million over a five-year period in costs of administering trust funds

The Department of the Interior today announced the award of three contracts totaling $887,704 for road and bridge construction on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona and New Mexico.

The largest contract, for $366,431, involves the grading, drainage and bituminous surfacing of 4.1 miles of Navajo Route 1 running west from the Arizona-New Mexico State line.

The Mellon Bank of Pittsburgh has been awarded a contract for financial trust services to strengthen interna1 management and administration of more than $1.7 billion of Indian trust funds.

A tri-party agreement will be executed by the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), trustee of the Indian monies; the Treasury Department's Financial Management Service (FKS); and Mellon Bank.

Award of a $235,683.40 contract for construction of 9.511 miles of graded roadway and untreated surface on Indian reservation lands in New Mexico was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The project is located between Torreon and Johnson's Trading Post in the checkerboard section of the eastern Navajo Reservation. The segment being improved serves as a part of an access road from New Mexico Route 44, near Cuba, to Torreon. The New Mexico State Highway Commission has agreed to complete the section from Johnson's Trading Post to Highway 44.