OPA

A proposed project to develop oil and gas resources on the Seminole Indian Tribe's Brighton Reservation in Florida would not create significant environmental issues or concerns, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has concluded.

The BIA has prepared an environmental assessment on a proposal by the Gulf Oil Corporation to engage in exploration, development and production of oil and gas within the boundaries of the reservation. The proposal calls for a seismic reconnaissance of some 37,000 acres of reservation land, exploratory wells and a subsequent selection of wells for production. The construction of pipelines, tanks and other facilities will be involved. According to the assessment completed by the BIA, no environmental impact statement will be required.

Short-term impacts on the environment would be typical of those encountered elsewhere in nearby locations in Florida, the BIA said, and potential impacts on land use, wildlife habitats and air/water qualities were judged to be insignificant.

Single copies of the assessment may be obtained from the BIA Eastern Area Office, 1951 Constitution Avenue, Washington, D. C. 20240 or the BIA Seminole Agency, 6075 Stirling Road, Hollywood, Florida 33024.

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.

According to the rule, the BIA's Colorado River Agency Superintendent will publish a list of persons determined as meeting the qualifications for enrollment. Persons who believe they are qualified but are not on the list could then appeal the omission within thirty days and submit information supporting their claim.

For further information, contact Sharlot Johnson, Branch of Tribal Operations, Phoenix Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 3030 N. Central Avenue, Suite 705, Phoenix, Arizona 85011, phone 602/241-2317 or FTS 261-2314

Interior Secretary James Watt, Agricultural Secretary John R. Block and representatives of Chugach Natives, Inc. today signed an agreement that provides for the final major settlement with regional corporations under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA). The State of Alaska, also a party to the agreement, will sign shortly. “

This action is a milestone in our commitment to resolve Native claims,” Watt said. “It ends more .than a decade of uncertainty for the Chugach people and it concludes more than two years of intense study and negotiation by the Departments of Agriculture and Interior, the Chugach Natives and the State of Alaska. This settlement is equitable for the Natives, for other Alaskans who are concerned about access, and for the public at large. This is another example of our Good Neighbor policy at work.”

Secretary Block noted that the Department of Agriculture was deeply involved in the negotiations because most of the valuable and productive lands in the agreement are within the Chugach National Forest.

“Valuable timber and mineral resources from the Chugach National Forest will be exchanged to the Chugach Natives under the action,” Block said. “We are looking forward to implementing the agreement with the Chugach Natives.”

The agreement specifically identifies about 272,000 acres in the National Forest (about 172,000 acres), National Wildlife Refuge (about 1,900 acres) and other public areas (about 98,000 acres) that are to be exchanged to Chugach Natives, Inc. The corporation's remaining entitlement of about 106,000 acres will be identified by December of this year from lands that were selected by the Chugach Natives prior to December 1976 under the ANCSA.

The corporation, which represents Natives living along the Gulf of Alaska east of Anchorage, already has received $3 million as part of the settlement and will get an additional $9 million upon final execution of the agreement.

The agreement improves land management patterns in the Prince William Sound region by consolidating ownership in important areas and reducing Chugach Natives, Inc., inholdings in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.

Under the agreement, more than 80 easements have been obtained from the corporation to provide for public use and access. This includes public access to certain marine shoreline areas and streams for recreational purposes. The area is highly regarded for its recreational opportunities, including fishing, hunting, kayaking and hiking. Also, more than 90,000 acres of selections will be relinquished by the Chugach Natives from within the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.

Because of difficulties in settling the claims of the Chugach Natives, the 1980 Alaska Lands Act provided for a special study which was the framework for today's agreement.

“Although this is the last major settlement with the 12 Native regional corporations entitled to land under the 1971 law, there is still much work to be done," Watt said. "This work will continue to be given a high priority.”

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ken Smith announced that one hundred Indian Tribal leaders, Government Policy Officials and National/ International Travel Leaders will meet to discuss American Indian Tourism Thursday, January 27, 1983.

The meeting, co-sponsored by the Interior Department Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and the Commerce Department U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration (USTTA), will be held at the Key Bridge Marriott in Rosslyn, Virginia.

The objective of this first such cooperative effort is to improve tribal income and reservation employment through increased foreign and domestic tourism. Workshops on marketing research, advertising and promotion, maintenance and facility upkeep, cooperation and regionalization, will be conducted by government and private sector experts.

The Seminar will begin at 8:30 a.m. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs John Fritz and Commerce Department Under Secretary for Travel and Tourism Peter McCoy will open the seminar. Others participating are; Congressman William Bonner of Tennessee; Author Harry Clement; Tribal Tourism Director, Author Dr. Alan Kite; President American Indian National Bank Conley Ricker; President Hilton Hotels William Edwards; Assistant Secretary for Tourism and Marketing Martin Darity; and Assistant Secretary Smith.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has asked Congress for $901.4 million dollars for its fiscal year 1984 programs and projects. An additional $100 million is to be provided for reservation road projects under the Highway Improvement Act of 1982 recently enacted by President Reagan.

The $100 million roads allocation through the Department of Transportation "will create thousands of new jobs while helping the reservations build infrastructure for economic development", said Kenneth L. Smith, Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs.

Not considering this $100 million, the 1984 request is about $53 million less than 1983 funding. Most of this decrease is in construction of roads, and irrigation projects. The 1983 total for construction was $110.8 million as compared to the 1984 request for $59.9 million.

The 1984 request includes continued funding for two initiatives started in 1983. A total of $5 million has been requested for grants to small tribes to help them acquire and maintain basic management capabilities and $10 million for grants to encourage private sector investment, promote sound business principles and assist enterprise development on the reservations.

The request of $249.1 million for Indian education programs reflects a decrease of $15 million from the 1983 funding of $264.1 million. Included in the 1983 funding, however, was a non-recurring payment of $9.4 million ed to the State of Alaska for renovating former BIA schools transferred to the state system. The Bureau also expects to operate 12 fewer schools in 1984. Ten BIA Alaska village schools will be transferred to the state system at the end of the 1982-83 school year. Two off-reservation boarding high schools, Intermountain at Brigham City, Utah and Mt. Edgecumbe in Alaska, are also scheduled to be closed in fiscal year 1983.

The $242.9 million requested for Indian service programs is a slight increase over the 1983 funding. Programs for economic development and employment assistance were increased to $65.5 million from $59.3 million in 1983 and the request of $89.3 million for natural resources development is an increase of $5 million over the 1983 funding.

Interior Assistant Secretary Ken Smith today approved a joint venture agreement for the development of oil and gas on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana.

The contract between the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the reservation and the U.S. Energy corporation was the first contract approved under the new Indian Minerals Development Act of 1982, signed by President Reagan last December.

Smith said that the kind of contract made by the Fort Peck tribes and U.S. Energy "accords perfectly with President Reagan's recently issued Indian policy which calls for the development of reservation economies and the strengthening of tribal governments". He said that President Reagan promised to remove Federal restrictions from tribal governments and the "new minerals act does just that".

Until the President enacted the new law on December 22, 1982. Indian tribes were bound by the provisions of the Indian Minerals Act of 1938, which allowed only straight lease agreements.

A total of 1,360 acres of reservation land is involved in the agreement signed by the Fort Peck tribes and the U.S. Energy Corporation. Under the agreement. the company will bear the entire cost of drilling and bringing in the first producing well Thereafter, the company and the tribes will share the net proceeds from production.

Interior Secretary James Watt approved on April 4 a coal mining agreement between the Crow Indian Tribe of Montana and the Shell Oil Company.

Under the agreement Shell will begin mining an estimated 210 million tons of coal from a 2,560 acre tract in the Youngs Creek area of the Crow reservation.

The tribe will receive $12 million in pre-production payments and a royalty, subject to adjustment, of 12 1/2 percent. An annual minimum royalty of $3 million, beginning in 1986, is guaranteed under the contract. The agreement also gives the tribe a 50 percent participation in an incremental profit sharing plan, but this is not expected to be implemented in the first 20 years of operation.

The agreement includes a joint venture alternative for the tribe for the subsequent development of other coal areas on the reservation. This kind of agreement was only recently allowed under provisions of the Indian Minerals Development Act of 1982, signed into law by President Reagan December 22.

After 90 percent of the coal in the Youngs Creek area is mined, the tribe and the company could develop additional tracts under the joint venture agreement. If the tribe does not want to participate, the company could exercise an option to mine additional land.

In a section dealing with tribal sovereignty issues, the agreement states that the company would pay the tribe a severance tax equal to the existing Montana tax of 30 percent, less whatever is required to be paid to the State.

Though the Crow tribe has coal being mined on land it owns outside the boundaries of the reservation, this agreement would bring the first mining on the reservation.

An environmental impact statement on the project has been completed.

More than 6400 man-years of employment will be created on Indian reservations in 27 states by projects to be funded through the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) with funds received under the 1983 Emergency Jobs Act, Interior Assistant Secretary Ken Smith announced today.

Smith said that tentative allocations of $114.5 million to reservation projects had been completed and that· the funds would be transmitted to Bureau area offices in the field in the next few days.

The act provided $20 million for natural resource development on reservations; $30 million for the Bureau's Housing Improvement Program; $24.5 million for the construction of a high school on the Hopi Indian Reservation; $30 million for the rehabilitation of Indian irrigation systems; and $10 million for the repair and renovation of BIA jails on reservations.

Assistant Secretary Smith, the Administration's top Indian official, said that unemployment on many of the reservations exceeded 50 percent.

"These funds are helping to meet critical needs on the reservations", Smith said. "They are providing badly needed jobs now and strengthening the reservation infrastructures for future developments."

Smith noted that the Indian reservations would be receiving additional assistance under the jobs act through The Indian Health Service, HUD, and other Federal agencies.

The $20 million for natural resource projects includes $12.5 million for agriculture and range development. These funds will be used for erosion control, fencing, brush and weed control, cattle guard construction, livestock water systems and related tasks.

Another $5 million will be used for forestry projects, including the maintenance of forest roads. The balance of $2.5 million is for tribal fisheries and stream clearance projects.

The $30 million for housing improvements will benefit 87 tribes and six Alaska villages. The funds will be used for bringing existing housing up to minimum standards and for new construction.

Rehabilitation work on 36 Indian irrigation systems will be carried out with the $30 million allotted for that purpose. This will include dam repairs, ditch linings and other needed work.

The $10 million for repairing jails will be used to bring 15 BIA jails on reservations up to health and safety standards and in compliance with the provisions of the juvenile delinquency control act.

The BIA area offices can provide specific information about projects within their regions.

A listing of the allocation totals by state follows:

Alaska, $5,183 (all figures are in thousands of dollars); Arizona, 49,347; California, 6,430; Colorado, 469; Florida, 290; Idaho, 880; Iowa, 192; Kansas, 315; Louisiana, 216; Maine, 572; Michigan, 568; Minnesota, 2,019; Mississippi, 330; Montana, 7,861; Nebraska, 143; Nevada, 6,142.

New Mexico, $9,027; New York, 193; North Carolina, 77; North Dakota, 2,993; Oklahoma, 3,111; Oregon, 1,202; South Dakota, 4,517; Utah, 932; Washington, 6,682; Wisconsin, 1,457; and, Wyoming, 1,585.

A Bureau of Indian Affairs concept paper on reducing costs at the central office and area office levels by consolidating administrative functions and making other changes has been sent to Indian leaders for review and counsel, 'Interior Assistant Secretary Ken Smith said today.

The concept paper on "streamlining the Bureau of Indian Affairs" has been sent to nine tribal leaders, appointed by NTCA and NCAI in March to function as an Indian Policy Review Team for Smith and Interior Secretary James Watt.

The concept paper was also sent to BIA area directors with instructions that it be distributed to every tribe within their areas.

Smith's instruction to the area directors states: "The consultation process on the option that is being proposed in the paper must begin as soon as possible". He added that when the area directors meet with the central office to prepare for the detailed work on the realignment, the tribes' initial reactions to this proposal should be brought along. The proposal submitted to the tribal leaders includes the following:

1) Merging the two Oklahoma area offices into one -- with Oklahoma City as a possible site;

2) Consolidating administrative support services -- such as personnel, budget and financial services -- at five locations;

3) On the Navajo Reservation, consolidating administrative support functions at the area office level;

4) Retaining the existing area offices, except in Oklahoma for program management and technical assistance;

5) Implementing various principles for improved management, such as the transfer of all operating functions to the agency level where economically and legally feasible; elimination of unnecessary paperwork and other wasteful management actions at the central and area levels; and redefining the central and area staff role to that of program review and support rather than supervision of operating programs.

The five locations proposed for administrative support functions are: Aberdeen, South Dakota, serving the Aberdeen and Minneapolis areas; Portland, Oregon, the Portland and Billings, Montana areas; Phoenix, Arizona, the Phoenix and Sacramento areas; Oklahoma City, serving the geographic areas currently served by the Muskogee and Anadarko offices and the Eastern area; and Albuquerque, serving that area and certain central office activities.

The concept paper suggests that the Juneau Area in Alaska and the Navajo area, covering parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, require special consideration. It indicates, however, that probably most of the administrative support for Alaska could eventually be provided from the Portland office. The volume of administrative transactions in the Navajo area, the paper states, "seems to justify the retention of administrative functions at the area".

Members of the Indian Policy Review Team, all tribal leaders, are Phillip Martin, Choctaw of Mississippi; Joe DeLaCruz, Quinault; Wendell Chino, Mescalero Apache; Tony Drennan, Colorado River; Gordon Thayer, Lac Courte Oreilles; Cliff Black, Eskimo; Johnson Meninick, Yakima; Merle Garcia, Acoma Pueblo; and Newton Lamar, Wichita. Martin is the President of the National Tribal Chairmen's Association and DeLaCruz is President of the National Congress of American Indians.

The BIA's 1983 appropriation mandates a reduction of $8 million in overhead costs in the central office and area offices. A further reduction of $9.4 million is in the 1984 budget request.

Interior's Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Ken Smith, and Federal Highway Administrator Ray A. Barnhart today signed a working agreement on the use of $375 million of Federal highway funds for Indian reservations.

The agreement outlines procedures for the approval of projects, provision of technical assistance, application of Indian preference in hiring, certification standards and other details.

Under the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982, the Bureau of Indian Affairs is receiving from the Department of Transportation $75 million in 1983 and $100 million in each of the next three years for roads construction on Indian reservations. This is the first time that the BIA has received Federal highway funds for use on reservations.

Assistant Secretary Smith said "the $375 million will generate approximately 10,000 jobs on reservations and will help tribes improve the infrastructure for economic development."

Federal Highway Administrator Barnhart, noting that the Department of Transportation has previously provided technical assistance for reservation roads projects, said: "We are pleased, through this agreement today, to share more fully in the work of building needed roads on the Indian reservations."

The BIA program of projects for 1983 has already been approved by the Federal Highway Administration and the $75 million received for 1983 will be totally obligated before October 1, 1983.