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Bureau of Indian Affairs, (BIA) Law Enforcement Officers have begun an extensive campaign against the supply and use of narcotics, drugs and marijuana on Indian reservations throughout the United States.

Ross Swimmer, Interior's Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs has given top priority to improving law and order on reservations. He feels it is a fundamental key to economic development for the Indian tribes.

"Many Indian reservations. which in past years were relatively free from drug activity, are now experiencing frequent problems" Swimmer said "Illegal drug activities on the reservation tear at the very fiber of the Indian communities, destroying traditional Indian values and creating lawlessness. I intend to commit resources necessary to help rid the reservations of this illegal activity," he added.

He asked that all tribal leaders support this campaign.

The BIA program, part of the Presidents war against drugs, includes the eradication of marijuana illegally cultivated on Federal and Indian lands. The BIA is cooperating in this operation with various Federal, State, local and tribal law enforcement organizations to locate and destroy marijuana fields, Some of which have been found hidden in deep forest areas and under camouflaged shelters.

One such effort is in Northern California where a specially trained interagency task force headed by the BIA is locating and destroying hundreds of high quality marijuana plants each day.

The BIA's Northern California effort will concentrate on marijuana eradication on reservations and Rancherias in the area. Although the state and county programs have conducted eradication operations in past years in the Hoopa Valley, they have not been able to dedicate sufficient resources specifically to reservations. This year's BIA operation will insure that major efforts are devoted to federal and Indian lands in the area.

The United states Government, through the BIA, has trust responsibilities for approximately 53 million acres of reservation land in more than 20 states, most of it west of the Mississippi River.

Under Secretary of the Interior Ann McLaughlin announced today that the Administration has accepted the agreement for funding the Animas-La Plata Project.

"While the agreement that has been reached contains several elements that are quite different from those we requested at the opening of negotiations, I believe that we have reached the best agreement possible with the states of Colorado and New Mexico and the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute Tribes," McLaughlin said. "Considerable concessions were granted on all sides during the formulation of this agreement.

"'We continue to be impressed with the ·strong coalition that has been formed locally and in Congress on behalf of the project. Without their constant support, this agreement would not have been possible."

During the negotiations, the estimated costs to the federal government of building the project were reduced from $518 million to $359.4 million. This includes $80 million to $359.4 million. This includes $80 million in cash from local sponsors to fund project construction and tribal development funds.

Key sections of the agreement call for the non-federal project sponsors to assume responsibility for building the Southern Ute Reservoir, elements of the "Dry Side" diversion unit, and facilities for irrigation of 24,600 acres of full-service farmlands, when such facilities were economically feasible. The agreement also provides for straight-line repayment of project costs associated with irrigation over a 30-year period. The cost sharing agreement is a necessary step in final settlement of outstanding Indian water claims.

"Final implementation of the settlement and the cost sharing agreement will depend on several actions of Congress. For example, authorization of the proposed tribal development fund will be necessary," McLaughlin said. Federal officials began negotiations with representatives from the states of Colorado and New Mexico and the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute Tribes after an earlier cost sharing offer composed by those states and the Tribes failed to win approval by the Department of the Interior. The Continuing Resolution f or Fiscal Year 1986 contained $1 million to begin work on the Anima s-La Plata Project. Expenditure of those funds was contingent on the acceptance of a cost sharing agreement from the project beneficiaries.

The Animas-La Plata Project is located in Montezuma and La Plata Counties in southwestern Colorado and San Juan County in northwestern New Mexico. The multipurpose project will provide municipal and industrial water supplies to cities and industries in the area as well as supplemental and full-service irrigation water supplies to local farmers.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ross Swimmer today awarded contracts to three firms that will act as model business development centers to create jobs for Indian tribes and individuals.

The three corporations, selected from 21 applicants, are the United Indian Development Association (UIDA) of El Monte, California; The Rensselaerville Institute of Rensselaerville, New York, and the Fairbanks Native Association (FNA) of Fairbanks, Alaska

Swimmer said, "Indian leaders have told me business development is their number one need. The creation of these centers is an effort to fulfill that need and is a positive step toward economic development in Indian Country. These firms are committed to producing real jobs, businesses and revenues."

Each firm was awarded $250,000 to generate jobs in Indian Country by attracting industry to the reservations and helping entrepreneurs start and run new businesses. The contractors, each experienced with Indian economic development, will assist business in planning, financing, accounting, marketing and management assistance from start-up until the business is successfully established.

The firms are proposing to create 1,081 jobs in Indian Country over a three-year period. The one-year contracts are renewable for up to three years if the firms meet the job creation numbers called for in their contracts.

"We've been through a multitude of studies that have told us what the problems are in Indian Country," Swimmer said. "We tend to deal too much with the problem side and not enough with getting the job done. We know the problems are there. The emphasis of these centers will be to create jobs."

About half of the nation's 1.4 million Indians live on reservations. Their land holdings total more than 53 million acres where1 unemployment runs as high as 70 percent on some reservations. One-quarter of the Indian workforce is seeking employment and 27 percent of the total population lives below the poverty line. The Rensselaerville Institute, headed by president Harold S. Williams, is a non-profit development corporation that has been creating jobs and building housing and community infrastructure since 1972. Its staff of consultants will support local entrepreneurs as well as import prospective businessmen to the reservations.

UIDA, a 16-year-old non-profit corporation under the leadership of president Steven L.A. Stallings, will establish a regional center in El Monte CA., and eventually in Denver and Seattle. These centers will help begin or expand at least five Indian businesses and create jobs for Indian workers.

Nearly 350 Indian businesses have started or expanded as a result of UIDA. The consulting group has raised more than $7 million in capital for Indian businesses and created nearly 2,000 jobs. The Fairbanks Native Association, founded in 1967 and headed by a seven-member board of directors, is the only contract that will focus on a single state - Alaska. FNA plans to establish a separate development center that will become self-supporting within three years. During its 26-year history, FHA has established or expanded businesses in tourism, logging and other industries. It has landed major loan packages for clients and set up a Small Business Assistance Center. Tribes or businesses interested in contacting the new business development centers should write to the following addresses: Rensselaerville Institute, Pond Hill Road, Rensselaerville, HY 12147; United Indian Development Association, 9650 Flair Drive, Suite 303, El Monte, CA. 91731; Fairbanks Native Association, 310 1st Avenue, Fairbanks, AK. 99701.

The Mellon Bank of Pittsburgh has been awarded a contract for financial trust services to strengthen interna1 management and administration of more than $1.7 billion of Indian trust funds.

A tri-party agreement will be executed by the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), trustee of the Indian monies; the Treasury Department's Financial Management Service (FKS); and Mellon Bank.

"This contract is a giant step toward returning confidence in our accountability and services to Indian tribes and individual Indians and Alaska Natives in the management of their trust funds," said Ross Swimmer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs and head of the BIA. "It is also a serious attempt to correct the operational deficiencies and provide the quality of service expected of a prudent trustee.''

FMS, which handled the contract award, was "pleased to provide contract management support to improve the financial management of BIA trust funds," Commissioner W. E. Douglas said.

Swimmer said awarding of the contract sets in motion a course of action which will directly address the material weaknesses in the trust accounting system, the inefficiencies of redundant multiple systems, and the lack of earning capacity due to inefficient cash management of funds. Among the services to be provided by Mellon are: collecting and depositing cash receipts; investment advising; executing buy and sell orders from BIA; maintaining custody of held securities; maintaining detailed accounts for both tribes and individuals, accounting for all transactions, and reporting all financial activities to the BIA or Treasury. The benefits to be derived include: enhanced investment performance, improved accounting and timely reporting of account information to tribes and individuals.

All activities and decisions required by law of the Government as trustee will continue to be performed by the Government, including control of investment decisions. As a result of improved access to financial information, tribes and individuals will be able to better plan for the use of their funds held in trust by BIA.

The need to improve the management of BIA's trust fund operation came to light through numerous audits and reports concerning the funds as far back as 1982. Two years ago BIA obtained an independent evaluation of its operation by a nationally known accounting firm. In response to a request for information published by the Bureau last year, a wide range of materials was received on private sector capabilities to assist in the management of Indian trust funds.

Mellon will be providing financial trust services to assist the BIA in managing the $1.7 billion fund that includes Indian tribal trust funds, individual Indian monies, contributed funds, Alaska Native escrow funds, irrigation and power project funds and the Papago Cooperative fund. Currently there are more than 251,000 participating tribal and individual Indian accounts. The funds represent awards to Indians as compensation for land claims or other legal settlements. The funds also include income from trust lands - oil, gas and other mineral revenues, timber sales, grazing and agricultural leases. The implementation into the contractor's system will be phased-in over a 12-to 18-month period.

“In addition to the benefits which will be experienced by the tribes, FMS estimates that decreasing the 'float' on these funds will result in interest savings of over $1 million annually to the treasury." Commissioner Douglas said.

Other banks submitting bids were Citizens and Southern National Bank, Atlanta; First National Bank of Chicago; Republic Bank of Dallas; and two California institutions, Bank of America and First Interstate Bank of California.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ross Swimmer today signed the Fort Peck Tribal Water Code, a model agreement for the administration of Indian water rights and the first code to be approved since 1975.

The code resulted from a 1985 compact between the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation and the State of Montana. The Fort Peck tribes own a portion of the Missouri River in northeastern Montana.

"The Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes along with the state of Montana are to be commended for their cooperation which has led to today's signing of the Fort Peck Tribal Water Code," Swimmer said. "This code is a model for administering tribal water rights and is a mess to Indian Country that state and tribal Governments can work together on resolving matters of common concern."

"This is a landmark in state-tribal relations," according to Interior under Secretary Ann McLaughlin. "This is a very essential step in bringing an important water rights settlement to reality."

Today's action implements the Fort Peck-Montana Compact, which was approved last year and is the state's first agreement with a tribal Government concerning Indian water rights. The approval of the water code is an exception to a 1975 moratorium Interior placed on approval of such codes.

"Since water knows no political boundaries, cooperation between state and tribal Government is essential to ensure effective and comprehensive water management. The Fort-Peck Montana compact highlights the benefits of intergovernmental cooperation," Swimmer said.

The purposes of the code are to (1) provide for the orderly resolution of disputes between persons authorized to use the tribal water right; (2) to regulate and administer all diversions and use of water under the tribal water right within the reservation except for diversions or uses received from the Fort Peck Irrigation Project; and (3) to implement the Fort Peck-Montana Compact.

The code creates a Water Resources Control Commission and an appointed water administrator. It also provides for obtaining water permits, transferring water rights, and prioritizing water uses.

Most western tribes lack formal water codes that regulate and administer the water they own through various executive orders and treaties with the federal government. Swimmer said the Fort Peck water code is a model for those tribes to consider.

Interior's Assistant Secretary Ross Swimmer today announced the appointments of C. L. Henson as Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Colorado River Agency in Parker, Arizona; and George E. Keller as Superintendent of the Truxton Canon Agency in Valentine, Arizona.

Henson, a native of Tahlequah, Oklahoma and an enrolled member of the Cherokee Tribe, has been Superintendent of the Truxton Canon Agency since 1982. He replaces Patrick Hayes who has been assigned to the BIA Phoenix area office. Henson joined the Bureau in 1963 as a voucher examiner in Phoenix. In addition to various jobs at agency offices in Arizona, he has served as administrative officer in BIA area offices in Albuquerque and Sacramento. From 1979 to 1982 he served in Juneau, Alaska, first as Housing Development Officer and then as Tribal Operations Officer.

Keller is a member of the Rosebud Sioux Indian Tribe and joined the BIA in 1963 as a teacher in the Flandreau Indian School in Flandreau, S.D. He served in several education positions in BIA before becoming Superintendent at the Rosebud Agency in 1976. After leaving that position in 1981, he served for nine months as a training program officer at BIA's Office of Technical Training before being named Superintendent at the San Carlos Agency in August of 1982 where he has served since that time.

Keller has a B.S. degree in Biology from Chadron State Teachers College and in 1968 received a K.ED degree in School Administration from South Dakota State University. Henson and Keller will report to their new duty stations on October 27.

Interior Assistant Secretary Ross Swimmer has signed a contract that will allow the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to manage and operate an electric power system on the Flathead Indian reservation in northwestern Montana The three year contract is effective immediately, though a short personnel phase-in period is necessary. Under the Indian Self-Determination Act, Indian tribes and groups are given the authority to contract the management of federal government services that affect Indian people.

"The policy of this administration is to remove the federal government from activities that could be locally operated," said swimmer, who heads the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). "It is also this Administration's policy to encourage Indian economic self-sufficiency." An October 1985 report prepared jointly by the Bureau of Reclamation and the BIA recommended that management of the Flathead Indian Irrigation's power division be transferred from the federal government to another entity.

Swimmer noted that although the project will shift from federal to local operation, the Secretary of the Interior will retain control over rates and would assure compliance with laws and regulations. He said the tribes prepared an exemplary contract and did a good job working with the community The Mission Mountain Electric Cooperative, a group of non-Indian residents, also had competed for management of the system out of fear that rates would increase and that they would be excluded from decisions pertaining to operations of the system.

Swimmer said those fears are unfounded since the Cooperative would have been forced to pay several million to purchase and maintain the power system. Those costs, according to Swimmer, could have been passed along to consumers.

In addition, the cooperative would have to arrange for use of right of ways and properties, which the tribes currently own. The tribes have included provisions in the contract to establish a utility board and consumers' council to ensure that non-tribal power users have input into the utility's policies and decisions. "We have a broad responsibility to assure that the customers' right to influence the decisions of the utility is considered as it would be with investor-owned or public utilities, which have their own regulatory bodies," Swimmer said. "The tribe has focused heavily on the rights of non-tribal members and has taken measures in its contract proposal to address the issue." Although self-determination contracts can be approved at the area level, Swimmer asked that the BIA headquarters in Washington review the request and work with Congressional representatives to ensure that all parties were being considered.

President Ronald Reagan has signed a bill authorizing the federal government to pay the Tohono O'Odham Indians (formerly Papago) in Arizona $30 million in order for the tribe to replace nearly 10,000 acres of reservation land that has been flooded repeatedly since 1979. The Gila Bend Indian Reservation Lands Replacement Act allows the U.S. Interior Department to begin paying the tribe in $10 million allotments over three years beginning in 1988. It is one of the Reagan Administration's largest land settlements with an Indian tribe.

“This settlement goes a long way to affirm the President's message to Indian Country that he is willing to deal with tribes on a government-to-government basis and to enter into negotiations for the settlement of claims rather than litigating these issues for years in court.” said Ross Swimmer, the Interior Department's assistant secretary for Indian affairs. “It reflects a commitment of this administration to all Indian people that their issues are considered seriously and steps are being taken to address those issues through negotiations,” Swimmer added. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1960 built the Painted Rock Dam on the Gila River 10 miles downstream from the Gila Bend Reservation. In 1964, the federal government acquired by eminent domain an easement for occasional overflow onto the reservation.

While government studies throughout the 1960's and 70's stressed the infrequency of overflow, substantial rains in 1979, 1981, 1983 and 1984 produced major flooding on the reservation. A 1983 Bureau of Indian Affairs report found that it would be overly expensive to rehabilitate the flooded lands, which had no protection from future overflows. An additional study concluded that there were no public lands acceptable to the tribe in exchange for the flooded land. The Gila Bend Act allows the tribe to purchase up to 9,880 acres of private land to be taken into trust by the Interior Department.

“While this has been a longstanding issue for the Tohono O’odham people, it is good that we have brought it to a compromised settlement.” Swimmer said.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) announced today that it will relocate the office of assistant director of education to the Navajo Area Office in Gallup, N.K. Dr. Kenneth Ross, who oversees BIA education operations in the Southwest, will move from his Washington headquarters to Gallup November 4 The director of the BIA's nearly $300 million education program, Dr. Henrietta Whiteman, said the move is Reared toward bringing management closer to the people it serves.

"The sheer number of students, employees and schools within the Southwest necessitates that a major portion of administrative time be focused on planning, monitoring programs, offering technical assistance and evaluating programs from a local base rather than from Washington," said Whiteman. Dr. Ross manages 94 schools and 6,000 employees in the BIA's Navajo, Phoenix and Albuquerque areas. Of the 180 Indian schools funded and operated by the BIA, 72 percent are located in the three service areas. About 53 percent of the BIA schools and education employees in Arizona and New Mexico are located in the Navajo area. "This certainly makes it easier for the BIA and tribal governments in the area to communicate and cooperate on the policies and budgets both deal with daily," Ross said. "This will save some of the time and money we spend commuting between the field and the central office."

Ross' office serves eleven pueblos as well as the White Mountain Apache, Hopi, Navajo, Papago and Pima tribes. He said his first goals are to improve relations with the tribes and assess the area education staff. The BIA, headed by Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ross Swimmer, offers education programs from early childhood through college.

A draft review of Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) off-reservation boarding schools in Phoenix. Arizona and Riverside, California recommends closure of the Phoenix school at the end of the current school year.

The report also recommends consideration of a new facility to provide specialized treatment services within a residential setting in close proximity to the Arizona Indian communities for students with special needs. The report recommends that the Sherman school in Riverside continue operation for its students and those displaced by closure of the· Phoenix facility

In a letter to Arizona and California Indian tribes, whose members attend one of the two schools, Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ross Swimmer asked for comments on the 18-page report by December 10. "The tribe's input into this review of Phoenix and Sherman schools is extremely important and I encourage you to participate in the review process." Swimmer said in his letter of November 12. "Your comments and recommendations will assist the Bureau in arriving at a final recommendation regarding the two schools."

The major reason for the recommended closure is declining enrollment at Phoenix because of the September 1986 opening of a new Hopi high school on the Hopi reservation and the anticipated opening of a similar school on the Tohono O'odham reservation south of Phoenix next September. The majority of the student population at Phoenix has been of students from those two Indian tribes. A projected cost of some $5 million to bring the Phoenix facility into full compliance with safety codes was also a factor. In contrast, the Sherman facility in California has undergone major rebuilding programs during the last decade and the report calls it "a completely modern school plant."

At 366 students for the 1986-7 school year -- down from a 1985-6 enrollment of 515 -- Phoenix is utilizing only 58 percent of its dormitory capacity. During the same period. Sherman's enrollment dropped from 642 students to 535 and is utilizing 61 percent of its dormitory capacity. With the expected opening of the Tohono O'odham school next September. Phoenix's student population is projected to fall by another 98 students and Sherman's by 107. With the combined student population at the two schools of only 696 for the 1987-88 school year, both schools would be operating at less than 50 percent of their capacities. Costs of $1.1 million annually to operate the Phoenix facility would be saved with its closure.

In viewing the total needs of the student body, the report says that approximately one-third of the students exhibited problems associated with alcohol or substance abuse (some only one-time offenders) and that neither school was fully equipped to meet the needs of this segment of the student body. Other BIA off-reservation boarding schools have similar student problems. "It is projected that (these) students would have (problems) severe enough to require a facility which would provide specialized treatment services within a residential setting," according to the report. The report said such a specialized school and residential treatment center should be in close proximity to the Arizona Indian communities and should have specific programs for treating the alcohol and substance abuse problems being experienced by the students with extreme behavioral patterns from all Bureau off-reservation boarding schools.

Overall review of the two schools was initiated last March. Both school boards, as well as the affected tribes and parents, were notified of the review. The bureau was assisted in reviewing the needs of several Arizona Indian communities by the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc.