Past News Items

PHOENIX, Ariz. – The Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs have approved an extension lease for the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) which enables operation of the coal-fired power plant to continue through December 22, 2019. Without the extension, activities to retire the plant would be required to begin in the coming year.

Interior Secretary James Watt cited the Cherokee Historical Association of North Carolina for service to the community at the Interior Department's 49th Awards Convocation in Washington D.C., today.

The Public Service Award of the Department was given to Frank H. Brown, chairman of the Cherokee Historical Association and John A. Crowe, principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

Indian educators, students, tribal community representatives and Bureau of Indian Affairs personnel will meet January 8-11 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to begin implementation efforts for two major pieces of Indian education legislation enacted in the closing days of the 95th Congress.

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke signed two secretarial orders to advance American energy independence. The Secretary’s orders foster responsible development of coal, oil, gas, and renewable energy on federal and Tribal lands and initiate review of agency actions directed by President Trump’s executive order entitled “Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth.” Secretary Zinke also signed a charter establishing a Royalty Policy Committee to ensure the public receives the full value of natural resources produced from federal lands.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs published in the Federal Register, December 28, 1981, a rule to establish procedures for the preparation of a roll of Mohave Indian descendants enrolled as members of the Colorado River Indian Tribes. The Mohave Indians placed on this roll would share with the members of the Fort Mohave Indian Tribe an award of $468,358 from the Indian Claims Commission.

Assistant Secretary Forrest J. Gerard announced today actions in the ongoing effort to organize and improve the management systems and structure of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Lawrence S. “Larry” Roberts today announced that the Obama Administration has exceeded its goal of placing half a million acres of tribal homelands into trust for federally recognized tribes.

Interior Assistant Secretary Ken Smith told Indian leaders meeting in Billings, Montana, August 11, that he would be heading up a Cabinet Council working group responsible for developing an Indian policy for the Reagan Administration.

Addressing the 9th annual convention of the National Tribal Chairman's Association, Smith said that Interior Secretary James Watt was responsible for elevating the Indian issue "to the Cabinet Council level, only one step away from the Presidential decision level."

A draft environmental impact statement considering the consequences of transferring certain public lands to the Navajo Tribe under the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act, P.L. 93-531, is now available.

According to a notice published in the Federal Register August 18, single copies of the statement may be obtained from the Flagstaff Administrative Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, P.O. Box 1889, Flagstaff, Arizona 86002.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today announced that the Department of the Interior disbursed more than $13.4 billion in revenue generated by energy production on Federal and American Indian lands and offshore areas in Fiscal Year 2014, with increases in state and Indian Country revenues over the prior year.

The disbursements include more than $1 billion to American Indian Tribes and individual Indian mineral owners, marking the first time disbursements from energy production on American Indian lands topped the billion-dollar mark.