Past News Items

Assistant Secretary -- Indian Affairs Forrest J. Gerard announced today the detail of James Canan, Billings Area Director to the Bureau's Management Improvement Program, where he will manage the field operation portion of the program. Gerard said he selected Canan for this assignment because of his many years of experience as an area director, his knowledge of the BIA's field operations at both the area and agency level.

WASHINGTON – Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Lawrence S. Roberts today announced final, updated Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) guidelines for implementing the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) that will better protect the rights of Indian children, their parents and their tribes in state child welfare proceedings.

The guidelines explain the ICWA statute and regulations while also providing examples of best practices for its implementation, the goal of which is to encourage greater uniformity in the application of ICWA measures.

A top Interior Department official from Washington, D. C. will be in Northern California December 1-3 to meet with state officials, Indian leaders and others about the management of the Klamath River fishery on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation.

Deputy Assistant Secretary Roy Sampsel said the meetings would "provide opportunities for identifying problems and seeking coordinated approaches to improved management of this important resource.

Senator Milton Young of North Dakota and Robert Richmond, a Brunswick Corporation executive, will be honored for "outstanding contributions to economic development on American Indian reservations," Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Forrest Gerard announced today.

Bureau of Indian Affairs' Economic Development Award plaques will be presented to the honorees October 19 in a ceremony on the Fort Totten Reservation in North Dakota.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – A major law enforcement operation targeting drug trafficking in and around Indian Country in North Carolina has resulted in the arrest of more than 75 individuals on federal, state and tribal charges, announced U.S. Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke and Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Additionally, the months-long operation yielded more than 248 pounds of illegal substances including heroin, methamphetamine, and hundreds of opioid pills with an estimated street value of $2 million.

Interior Secretary James Watt announced today he has made available $180,000 to the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa-Chippewa Indians of Suttons Bay, Michigan for new impoundment gear in their commercial fishing operation.

The funds will be used for a demonstration project in which the tribe will upgrade its fishing methods by switching from gill nets to trap nets. The trap net method of fishing allows more selective fishing -- taking only those fish that are easily marketable such as whitefish and chub -- and protects the Lake Michigan lake trout fishery.

Revisions in the regulations governing contracts and grants under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance (P.L.93-638) are being published in the Federal Register, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today.

The most significant change is the addition of procedures to deal with situation in which a contract proposal is adequate but the Bureau does not have sufficient funds to finance it.

The revisions, published as proposed regulations in March, 1976, will be effective 30 days after publication.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that he has approved the Northern Cheyenne Tribe’s probate code and that the Department of the Interior’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) will now apply the code when probating trust or restricted lands within the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana. Codes such as the Northern Cheyenne’s allow tribes to determine how trust or restricted land within the reservation passes to heirs upon an individual’s death.

Interior Secretary James Watt said today President Reagan's budget amendments sent to Congress this week include a reduction of seven percent -- $75.9 million for the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the fiscal year 1982 budget presently pending in Congress.

The Administration's Water Policy Message sent to Congress today by President Carter recommended that States put up a front-end share of the cost of all Federal water projects.

The President said that State governments should assume a share of the cost over and above existing cost-sharing of Federal water projects. The proposal was among several initiatives the President announced to achieve a new national emphasis on water conservation, enhance Federal State cooperation, increase attention to environmental quality, and improve Federal water resource programs.