OPA

A final environmental impact statement concerning the long-term leasing of Tesuque Pueblo Reservation lands north of Santa Fe, New Mexico, for residential development use by the Sangre de Cristo Development Company is now available to the public, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today.

The statement considered the human and physical environmental effects associated with the request for approval by the Secretary of the Interior of a 99-year lease for 1,342 acres of land, with an option to lease an additional 4,100 acres for developing a residential community of 16,000 people.

The Tesuque Pueblo now has about 300 residents.

Limited numbers of copies of the statement may be obtained from the Bureau of Indian Affairs Albuquerque Area Office, 5301 Central Avenue, N.E., Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108. Copies are available for inspection at the Area Office, the BIA Central Office in Washington, D.C. and at the Northern Pueblos Agency, Federal Post Office Building, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

J. Kenneth Adams, a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, has been named Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Agency at Sisseton, South Dakota.

Adams has been the Administrative Officer at the agency. He has been serving as the acting superintendent for the past ten months.

An army veteran, Adams first worked for the Federal Government in 1952 as an accountant with the Veterans Administration. He came to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1956 as Property and Supply Officer at the Crow Agency in Montana. He has since worked in the Minneapolis Area Office, the Fort Totten Agency in North Dakota and the Southern Ute Agency in Colorado.

For two years, 1971-73, he was Executive Director of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribe.

Because of widespread interest, the opportunity to comment on a draft environmental impact statement for the proposed operating criteria for the Lower Carson-Lower Truckee River Basins is being extended, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today.

Notice was published in the Federal Register August 2, 1977 that the deadline for written comments has been changed from July 9 to September 30 and that a supplemental hearing will be held September 22 in the Jot Travis Auditorium, University of Nevada, Reno.

The pertinent river basins are located principally in Churchill and Washoe Counties, Nevada.

Persons wanting to present their views at the hearing should contact Harold Ranquist, Department of the Interior., 900 West First Street, Reno, Nevada 89503; telephone 702-322-4042.

Single copies of the environmental statement may be obtained by writing to the above address. Notice of availability of the statement was published in the Federal Register on May 23, 1977.

Gordon E. Cannon, a Kiowa Indian, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Fort Totten Agency, North Dakota. The appointment is effective August 28.

Cannon, 39, has been the Realty Officer at the Colville Agency, Nespelem, Washington the past three years.

A graduate of the Holy Rosary Mission School on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, Cannon worked for eleven years in the BIA's Portland Area Office, Oregon. He has also worked at the Western Washington Agency and the Hoopa Agency. He is a U.S. Army veteran.

Peter Three Stars, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, has been named superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Western Washington Agency at Everett, Washington. The appointment is effective August 28.

Three Stars, 50, has been superintendent of the BIA agency at Bethel, Alaska since 1974.

A World War II Army veteran, Three Stars has worked with BIA for 27 years. He has been a teacher, worked in job placement programs and for many years was a specialist in tribal government services. He worked in the Bureau's Central Office in Washington, D.C., from 1971 to 1974.

Three Stars is a graduate of the State College at Springfield, South Dakota.

Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus said today that he was approving "with great satisfaction" a renegotiated coal mining lease between the Navajo Indian Tribe and a partnership composed of the El Paso Natural Gas Company and the Consolidation Coal Company.

Peter MacDonald, Chairman of the Navajo Tribe, and officials of the Department concluded negotiations August 11, 1977 with Consolidation Coal Company and El Paso Natural Gas Company for a coal mining lease covering more than 40,000 acres on the Navajo Reservation.

The new terms include a 12 1/2 percent royalty, a $5.6 million advance bonus payment, and provision for review and adjustment of the royalty terms at the end of five years.

The land involved has actually been under lease since October of 1968 when the Navajo Tribe, Consolidation, and El Paso entered into their first coal mining lease. The original lease contained a primary term of ten years, a preference in employment for Navajos, and a royalty rate of 20 cents per ton for coal mined and used on the reservation.

Beginning in 1973, the Navajo Tribe and the two mining companies began negotiations for amending this original lease. Three years of negotiations culminated in a renegotiated lease calling for a $5.6 million advance royalty, an agreement guaranteeing Navajo training and employment in the mining operation, and a royalty of 8 percent of the value of the coal mined. Chairman MacDonald delivered this renegotiated lease in 1976 to the Secretary for approval.

On June 30, 1977, Andrus asked that the royalty rate be renegotiated in light of the Federal Coal Leasing Amendments of 1975 which require a 12 1/2 percent minimum royalty for the sale of coal on federal lands.

Drawing upon the resources of several Interior Department agencies, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Mines, and the U.S. Geological Survey, a financial analysis was completed which indicates that a 12 1/2 percent royalty rate will yield a substantially higher return to the Tribe while providing an adequate return to the companies. As a result of the analysis Chairman MacDonald requested that the Department assist the tribe in securing a substantially higher return for the Navajo Nation.

Both Interior Secretary Andrus and Chairman MacDonald have expressed great satisfaction over the agreement reached.

This agreement represents a "milestone" in Indian minerals development, Secretary Andrus said, "that reflects this Administration's commitment to both the concept of tribal self-determination and the nation's fiduciary responsibilities to Indian tribes and Indian resources. The tribe knew the terms under which it was prepared to accept this massive development, and this Department provided the technical expertise and information necessary for the Navajo Nation to negotiate the top dollar these resources would bring in fair and open dealing."

The agreement reached on August 11 will result in additional revenues of some $5 million to the Navajo Tribe in the first five years alone.

William P. Ragsdale, a Cherokee Indian, has been appointed Superintendent of the Uintah and Ouray Agency, Fort Duchesne, Utah, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today.

Ragsdale replaces William Streitz who was transferred to the Phoenix Area Office as Indian Trust Protection Officer.

A graduate of Central State College, Edmond, Oklahoma, Ragsdale has been Acting Superintendent at the agency and has been a participant in a Superintendent Intern program at the area office.

A former United States Marine, Ragsdale was a tribal government services specialist at Flagstaff, Arizona and Muskogee, Oklahoma. He has also been a teacher at the Concho Indian School in Oklahoma. He is 31.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has extended the time allowed for comment on proposed procedures governing the determination that an Indian group is a federally recognized Indian tribe.

Because of numerous requests for more time to review these procedures, published in the Federal Register June 16, the new deadline will be September 18, 1977.

Notice of this extension is being published in the Federal Register.

Interior Secretary Cecil D. Andrus said today he has approved, with some modifications, the mining and reclamation plan by Westmoreland Resources to strip mine Crow Indian and state-owned coal from nearly 2,000 acres in Crow Indian Ceded Lands in south-central Montana.

Westmoreland proposed to expand its existing Absaloka Coal Mine by 1,958 acres (792 hectares) in northern Big Horn County just north of the Crow Indian Reservation. The company would remove 190.6 million tons (172.9 million metric tons) of coal over the next 20 years from the expansion area and the remaining 193 unmined acres (78 hectares) of the existing Absaloka Mine area. The Secretary's approval was given following Consultation with Crow tribal leaders.

In approving the Westmoreland proposal, Andrus stipulated that "in addition to specific requirements of existing federal, state, tribal and local laws as applicable, the (U.S. Geological Survey's) area mining supervisor may at any time require reasonable modification of any phase of the approved mining and reclamation plan where he determines it is necessary or desirable for efficient or environmentally sound mining operations."

The Interior Secretary also stipulated that "Westmoreland Resources will monitor on a continuous basis the quantity and the quality of ground and surface water in the area adjacent to the mining area to determine the impact on Sarpy Creek and the hydrology of East Sarpy Basin."

The area to be mined under the plan is part of a 1.1-million-acre (445,000-hectare) tract ceded to the U.S. Government by the Crow Tribe under a 1904 act of Congress. Legislation approved in 1958 restored surface or mineral rights, or both, on parts of the Ceded Area to the Crow Tribe. The tribe now owns coal rights on about 150,000 acres (60,700 hectares) in the Ceded Area, and these rights are held in trust for the tribe and administered by the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

Westmoreland owns surface rights and the Crow Indian Tribe the coal rights on 1,644 acres (655 hectares) of the proposed expansion area of the Absaloka Mine. The State of Montana owns both the surface and coal rights on the remaining 314 acres (127 hectares) encompassed by the mining proposal and has leased the coal to Westmoreland. The expansion area is mostly to the east and southeast of the existing mine, which is about 26 miles (42 kilometers) east of Hardin, Mont., and 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Hysham, Mont.

Westmoreland Resources obtained coal leases from the Crow Tribe in 1972 on 30,876 acres (12,500 hectares) in the Ceded Area, and began operating the Absaloka Mine in 1974 under an approved plan for surface mining 410 acres (166 hectares). This plan was covered in an environmental impact statement prepared by the BIA and filed with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in 1974. Subsequent Federal Court orders held that Interior's approval of the Westmoreland leases to mine tribal coal was a "major federal action" that required a comprehensive environmental impact statement as well as individual impact statements for each subsequent mining plan on the lease areas.

The BIA filed with the CEQ on Dec. 15, 1976, a final impact statement on the leases, and the Interior Department approved the leases Jan. 19, 1977. The U.S. Geological Survey filed a final environmental impact statement on the Absaloka Mine expansion proposal with the CEQ May 31, 1977. Andrus considered that statement, as well as written comments and oral comments received at a public hearing Dec. 1, 1976, before deciding to permit Westmoreland to proceed with a modified mining plan.

The Absaloka Mine produced 4 million tons (3.6 million metric tons) of coal in 1976, and production from the existing mine and the expansion area is expected to peak at 10 million tons (9 million metric tons) a year from 1981 through 1995. Westmoreland currently is committed to provide 5 million tons (4.5 million metric tons) of coal per year from the mine for electric power generation in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa.

Crow Indians have preferential employment rights in the Westmoreland mining operations involving coal owned by the tribe. The Absaloka Mine now employs 110 workers, of which about 60 are Indians. Employment is expected to rise to 210 when full production is reached in 1981, of which 167 are expected to be Indians. The mine payroll, currently more than $2.8 million a year, is expected to reach more than $3.9 million annually by 1981.

Royalty payments to the Crow Tribe are expected to increase from the present $1.5 million a year up to an average $7.5 million a year from 1982 to 1997. The State of Montana is expected to receive more than $21 million a year in severance and resource indemnity taxes a year after 1982. Big Horn County also will receive considerable benefits, with revenues from proceeds and property taxes expected to reach $7 million a year by 1982.

Approximately 785 acres (318 hectares) of the proposed mining area was or is cultivated and 1,365 acres (552 hectares) used for grazing. Westmoreland said it plans to offer the surface lands for purchase to the Crow Tribe after the land is mined and reclaimed, although the reclaimed land is not expected to be suitable for agricultural production or sustained grazing for approximately seven years after mining. In addition, because the two major coal beds that will be mined average as much as 35 feet thick, the reclaimed land surface will be considerably lower than it was originally.

A summary included with the final environmental impact statement also listed the other following environmental impacts of the Westmoreland mining plan:

• The existing land surface, vegetation and all aquifers above the base of the Robinson Coal bed in the proposed mine area will be destroyed.
• Wildlife habitats will be disrupted until disturbed areas are revegetated and human intrusions terminated.
• Ground and surface water quantity and quality, livestock grazing, Oceanic views and open space qualities will be degraded and restricted until revegetation is successfully completed.
• Dust and noise will be increased locally until recontouring and revegetation is successfully completed.
• Livestock and wildlife forage will be reduced until revegetation is successful.
• Employment for the Crow Indians and other citizens of Big Horn County will be increased.
• Tax and royalty income for the Crow Tribe, the State of Montana and Big Horn County will be increased.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has announced the appointment of Norman L. Tippeconnic as Superintendent of the San Carlos Indian Agency, Arizona. His appointment is effective August 28.

Tippeconnic, a Comanche, has been Superintendent of the Hoopa Agency in California since 1971.

Tippeconnic, 44, attended Oklahoma State University. He came to work for the BIA in 1959 at Gallup, New Mexico. He was the Supply Management Officer at the Bureau's Data Center in Albuquerque before taking the Hoopa job.