Past News Items

Martin M. Zoller, Superintendent of the Klamath Indian Agency in Oregon since 1956, will be the new superintendent at the Uintah and Ouray Agency, Fort Duchesne, Utah, effective October 4, the Department of the Interior announced today.

He succeeds Darrell Fleming who recently transferred to the Cherokee Agency in North Carolina.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson today announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs will publish the Replacement School Construction Priority List in the Federal Register. The current list, which was last published on July 9 and July 18, 2003, is revised by the addition of newly prioritized schools. The BIA uses the list to determine the order in which Congressional appropriations are requested to replace aging BIA-funded schools and dormitories.

The Department of the Interior favors the enactment of legislation that would permit further leasing of lands on the Colorado River Indian Reservation in western Arizona and southeastern California, Assistant Secretary Roger Ernst announced today.

WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, November 26, 2002, Interior Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb will be joined by The Honorable R. Perry Beaver, Principal Chief, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, in dedicating the new headquarters of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) Eastern Oklahoma Regional Office in Muskogee, Okla. The BIA will be the sole tenant of the two-story facility, which was built, and is owned, by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma.

Award of a $393,202 contract for the construction of about nine miles of highway on Navajo Route 1 in northern Arizona was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The section of road begins at Tuba City, Arizona 1 and extends northeast past the Rare Metals Uranium Mill, towards Kayenta, in the northern part of the Navajo Reservation.

This nine-mile section is the first project on Navajo Route 1 to be constructed or immediate takeover by the State of Arizona after the Bureau of Indian Affairs contract is complete.

PHOENIX – In an address yesterday before a large crowd of tribal government and business leaders attending the National Summit on Emerging Tribal Economies, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb drew upon his 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur to point out the importance of partnerships between tribes and federal agencies and corporations.

“Partnerships are a powerful tool” for tribal businesses to use, McCaleb said, citing the role they play in the business world as a mechanism for creating profits and expanding market share.

High bids totaling $866,695 have been received by the Uintah and Ouray Indian Tribe of Utah for oil and gas leases on 14 tracts of tribally owned land comprising nearly 31,000 acres, the Department of the Interior announced today.

The high bidder on all 14 of the tracts was Standard Oil Company of California.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has asked the Department's Geological Survey for technical recommendation prior to acceptance of the bids

WASHINGTON - Interior Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs extended his gratitude to Special Trustee for American Indians Tom Slonaker, who resigned from his position earlier today. McCaleb thanked Slonaker for his record of public service:

"Tom Slonaker has been a good friend of mine and an effective ally for the people we serve across Indian Country. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors."

McCaleb also extended his congratulations to Donna Erwin, who was named Acting Special Trustee by Interior Secretary Gale Norton today:

The Department of the Interior today announced completion of a trust agreement under which the United States National Bank of Portland, Oregon, replaces the Bureau of Indian Affairs as trustee for the tribal property of the remaining members of the Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon.

WASHINGTON – Acting Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Aurene M. Martin will observe Earth Day 2003 during a visit she will make to the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) on April 23 at 2:20 p.m.(local time) to view its new Science and Technology Building and reforestation project. SIPI is a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) funded, two-year institution located in Albuquerque, N.M., that provides general education, business, science and technical instruction at the associate degree and certificate levels for American Indians and Alaska Natives.