OPA

The withdrawal of 1,393 acres of public lands in New Mexico for scientific research by New Mexico’s A. &M. College with a special provision protecting the traditional right of local Indians to use a portion of the area for religious purposes was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The lands are located in Dona Ana County. They Hill be used by the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts for research on electromagnetism and other subjects.

The order provides that the Tortugas Indians may continue crossing the area on foot to visit a piece of land located on a hill near the College which they have traditionally regarded as sacred. Some members of the small Tortugas band live in Mexico and others in the United States. They are not subject to the jurisdiction of the Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Subject to valid existing rights, the lands are withdrawn from all forms of appropriation under the public land laws, including mineral leasing and mining Grazing Hill be permitted to continue, Bureau of Land engagement Director Edward Woozley said.

Notice of the application for withdrawal was published in the Federal Register on March 11, 1959. No comments were received.

The 1979 calendar of Indian fairs, exhibits, ceremonials, dances, feasts and other celebrations is now available, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today.

Most of the events in the state-by-state listings occur in the summer or fall months and are open to tourists and other visitors. The pocket-size booklet lists more than 500 items, giving the nature of the activity, dates and locations.

The booklet also contains some summary information about. Indians in the United States and the addresses of Bureau of Indian Affairs' field offices.

The calendar may be obtained for $2.30 from the, Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. The stock number is 024-002-0067-5.

The Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) announces the availability of its publication, Mineral Revenues: The 1985 Report on Receipts from Federal and Indian Leases.

The booklet reports on the 1985 activities of the MMS Royalty Management Program, including collection of $6.5 billion in bonuses, rents and royalties from Indian and federal {offshore and onshore) minerals 1eases.

The report also offers tables and statistics relating to the generation, distribution, and history of revenues obtained under th1s program.

Copies of the 1985 report are available, free of charge, from:

Office of Minerals Management Information Minerals Management Service Department of the Interior 18th and C Streets, N.W. Washington, D. C. 20240 (202) 343-3983

or

Public Affairs Office Royalty Management Program Minerals Management Service P.O. Box 25165 MS-651 Denver, Colorado 80225 (303) 231-3162.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Acting Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Aurene M. Martin today announced that August 2003 is “Back to School Month” for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) funded schools. “August is the time of year when BIA school administrators and teachers are hard at work preparing for the coming school year,” Martin said. “These dedicated professionals provide our students with the foundation they need to achieve personal growth and academic success. BIA students are learning what they need today to become Indian Country’s leaders of tomorrow.”

This month Acting Assistant Secretary Martin will visit Baca Community School in Prewitt, N.M., to view its new facility, which is scheduled to open in time for the 2003-2004 school year. In addition, other BIA schools will be holding a variety of activities and events to welcome students and their families back to the classroom.

There are 185 BIA-funded elementary and secondary day and boarding schools serving approximately 48,000 Indian students living on or near 63 reservations in 23 states. In School Year 2001-2002, the BIA directly operated one-third of its schools with the remaining two-thirds tribally-operated under BIA contracts or grants. The BIA also directly operates two postsecondary institutions of higher learning and provides funding to 25 tribally-controlled colleges and universities. In addition, the BIA offers financial assistance grants to Indian undergraduate and graduate students through, respectively, tribal scholarship programs and the American Indian Graduate Center (AIGC) in Albuquerque, N.M.

The Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs has responsibility for fulfilling the Department’s trust responsibilities to individual and tribal trust beneficiaries, as well as promoting the self-determination and economic well-being of the nation’s 562 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. The Assistant Secretary also oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which is responsible for providing education and social services to approximately 1.4 million individual American Indians and Alaska Natives from the federally recognized tribes.

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Live Stream
Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Interior
2014 SIPI Commencement Address
at
Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI)
Albuquerque, NM
Thursday, April 17, 2014
ustream.tv/channel/sipi-it
Live Stream begins at 10 a.m. (MST)

WASHINGTON – President Obama’s fiscal year (FY) 2014 budget request for Indian Affairs, which includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), is $2.6 billion – a $31.3 million increase above the FY 2012 enacted level. The proposed budget maintains the President’s commitment to meeting the government’s responsibilities to the 566 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes, while exercising fiscal responsibility and improving government operations and efficiency.

“The President’s budget request for Indian Affairs reflects his firm commitment to keeping our focus on strengthening and supporting tribal nations, and protecting Indian Country,” said Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn. “While realizing the benefits from improvements to Indian Affairs program management, the request supports our mission to federally recognized tribes, particularly in the areas of trust lands and natural resource protection. The request also promotes economic development, improves education, and strengthens law enforcement and justice administration.”

Strengthening Tribal Nations Initiative

The Strengthening Tribal Nations Initiative is a comprehensive, multi-year effort to advance the President’s commitments to American Indians and Alaska Natives to improve conditions throughout Indian Country and foster economic opportunities on Indian reservations.

The FY 2014 budget request includes $120 million in increases for this initiative to support sustainable stewardship and development of natural resources in Indian Country, public safety programs that apply lessons learned from successful law enforcement pilot programs, operations at new and expanded detention facilities, contract support costs to facilitate tribal self-governance, and new and expanded payments for water rights settlements. Additionally, it provides increased funding for post-secondary education and an elementary and secondary school pilot program based on the U.S. Department of Education’s turnaround schools model and concepts.

Advancing Nation-to-Nation Relationships

The FY 2014 budget request for Contract Support Costs is $231 million – a $9.8 million increase over the FY 2012 enacted level. The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, as amended, allows federally recognized tribes to operate federally funded programs themselves under contract with the United States – an expression of the federal government’s policy to support tribal self-determination and self-governance. Tribes rely on contract support costs funds to pay the costs of administering and managing contracted programs. It is a top priority for many tribes.

In light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Salazar v. Ramah Navajo Chapter, the FY 2014 budget request includes the Administration’s proposed interim solution to budgeting contract support costs. The Administration proposes Congress appropriate contract support costs on a contract by contract basis and will provide Congress with a contract funding table for incorporation into the Department’s FY 2014 appropriations legislation. Through tribal consultation, this interim step will lead to a long-term solution that will result in a simpler and more streamlined contract support costs process.

Protecting Indian Country

The FY 2014 budget request for BIA Public Safety and Justice programs is $363.4 million with targeted increases over the 2012 enacted level of $5.5 million for Law Enforcement Operations, $13.4 million for Detention Center Operations and $1.0 million for Tribal Courts.

The request also includes a $3.0 million programmatic increase in BIA Human Services to address domestic violence in tribal communities. A partnership between BIA Human Services and Law Enforcement will address the needs at tribal locations with high levels of domestic violence. The initiative will improve teamwork between law enforcement and social services to more rapidly address instances of domestic violence, and expand services that help stem domestic violence in Indian Country and care for its victims.

The FY 2014 budget request for Law Enforcement Operations is $199.7 million, a $5.5 million programmatic increase over the FY 2012 enacted level. The increased funding for Criminal Investigations and Police Services will enable the BIA to hire additional bureau and tribal law enforcement personnel. The request includes $96.9 million for Detention Center Operations, a program increase of $13.4 million over the FY 2012 enacted level. The additional funding for staffing, training and equipment will strengthen BIA and tribal capacity to operate existing and newly constructed detention facilities.

The request also includes $24.4 million for Tribal Courts, an increase of $1.0 million above the 2012 enacted level. The funding will be used for judges, prosecutors, public defenders, court clerks, probation officers, juvenile officers, and support staff, as well as for training and related operations and administrative costs for tribal justice systems and Courts of Indian Offenses.

The FY 2014 budget request also supports the BIA’s successful pilot program, launched in 2010, that carries out the President’s Priority Goal of reducing violent crimes by at least five percent within 24 months on four initial reservations. The targeted, intense community safety program successfully reduced violent crime by an average of 35 percent across the four reservations. In 2012, the program was extended to two additional reservations. After a year, the two new sites have experienced an increase in reported crime – a trend similar to that seen at the initial four sites. The BIA will continue to support the efforts of all six programs in 2014 with funding, technical assistance, monitoring and feedback.

Improving Trust Land Management

Taking land into trust is one of the most important functions the Department undertakes on behalf of federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes, whose homelands are essential to their peoples’ health, safety and economic well-being. The BIA’s trust programs assist tribes and individual Indian landowners in the management, development and protection of trust lands and natural resource assets totaling about 55 million surface acres and 57 million acres of subsurface mineral estates.

In 2012 and 2013, the Department undertook the most substantial overhaul of the federal fee-to-trust process in over half a century. In 2012, Interior placed 37,971 acres of land into trust on behalf of tribes and individual Indians and approved 299 fee-to-trust applications. Over the past four years, Indian Affairs has processed more than 1,000 separate applications and acquired over 196,600 acres of land in trust.

The FY 2014 budget request for the Trust – Natural Resources Management program, which assists tribes in managing, developing and protecting their trust lands and natural resources, is $189.2 million, a programmatic increase of $34.4 million over the FY 2012 enacted level. The increases support sustainable stewardship and development of natural resources and will support resource management and decision making in the areas of energy and minerals, climate, oceans, water, rights protection, and endangered and invasive species.

The FY 2014 budget request for Trust – Real Estate Services is $128.9 million, a programmatic increase of $7.7 million increase over the FY 2012 enacted level. This program carries out the BIA’s trust services, probate, and land titles and records functions, as well incorporates the Department’s trust reform improvement efforts. The request proposes a $5.5 million increase to fund authorized activities related to the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement at $7.0 million and provides $1.5 million for litigation support for Indian natural resource trust assets management.

Advancing Indian Education

The FY 2014 budget request for the Bureau of Indian Education of $802.8 million, a program increase of $6.7 million above the FY 2012 enacted level, advances the Department’s continuing commitment to the education of American Indians and Alaska Natives from the federally recognized tribes. The Advancing Indian Education initiative addresses the full spectrum of educational needs throughout Indian Country from elementary through post secondary levels and adult education. The 2014 budget supports student academic achievement in BIE schools by initiating a $15.0 million pilot program to turnaround lower performing elementary and secondary schools, provides $2.5 million in increased funding to meet the needs of growing enrollment at tribal colleges, and provides $3.0 million in new funding for a Science Post-Graduate Scholarship Fund. The budget also proposes an additional $2.0 million for tribal grant support costs.

Achieving Better Results at a Lower Cost

Administrative Cost Savings Over the last few years, Indian Affairs has taken significant steps to reduce the administrative costs associated with the wide range of services it delivers. In addition to $7.1 million in cost-saving measures from information technology standardization and infrastructure consolidations, the FY 2014 budget request includes a reduction of $19.7 million to reflect anticipated cost savings from streamlining operations. The request also includes $13.8 million in savings from reductions to contracts, fleet management, awards, and travel.

Indian Arts and Crafts Board The budget proposes to transfer the $1.3 million funding for the IACB from the Office of the Secretary to Indian Affairs, thereby allowing Indian Affairs to oversee the implementation of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, as amended, which contains both criminal and civil provisions to combat counterfeit activity in the American Indian and Alaska Native arts and crafts market, and the Board’s management of three museums in the Plains Region dedicated to the promotion, integrity and preservation of authentic American Indian art and culture.

Program Reductions and Eliminations

• Housing Improvement Program (-$12.6 million) Eliminates the HIP. Tribes are not precluded from using HUD funding to provide assistance to HIP applicants.
• Law Enforcement Special Initiatives (-$2.6 million) Reflects decreased participation on collaborative activities such as intelligence sharing.
• The Indian Student Equalization Program (ISEP) (-$16.5 million) Offsets $15.0 million for a turnaround school pilot program.
• Replacement School Construction (-$17.8 million) The construction program will address improving physical conditions of existing school facilities through the Facilities Improvement and Repair program.
• The Indian Guaranteed Loan Program (-$2.1 million) The funding level of $5.0 million will guarantee over $70 million in loans.

Indian Affairs’ responsibility to the federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes is rooted in Article I, Section 8, of the United States Constitution, as well as in treaties, executive orders, and federal law. It is responsible for the management, development and protection of Indian trust land and natural resources, providing for public safety and justice in Indian Country, and promoting tribal self-determination and self-governance. Through the Bureau of Indian Education, it funds 183 elementary and secondary day and boarding schools, of which two-thirds are tribally operated, located on 64 reservations in 23 states and serving in School Year 2011-2012 a daily average attendance of 41,000 students. It also provides funding to 27 tribal colleges and universities and two tribal technical colleges, operates two postsecondary institutions of higher learning and provides higher education scholarships.

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WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that Charles Addington, associate director of field operations for the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Justice Services, has been named a finalist by the Partnership for Public Service for its 2013 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals. Addington, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, is among 31 finalists, and the only Interior Department employee, in seven medal categories who were announced on May 7.

“I want to congratulate OJS Associate Director Charles Addington on being named a 2013 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalist, a notable recognition of his outstanding work,” Washburn said. “I’m proud of all of our law enforcement officers for their devoted service to protecting families and communities throughout Indian Country. Their daily beat is often a remote area encompassing hundreds of miles, where difficult or dangerous circumstances can occur whether making an arrest, conducting an investigation or defusing an emotional domestic situation. Charles Addington represents the best of BIA Law Enforcement.”

Addington was recognized for developing and implementing an innovative law enforcement program that reduced the high violent crime rate on four Indian reservations by 35 percent, providing a model for other Native American communities. He is among five finalists in the Homeland Security and Law Enforcement Medal category announced by the Partnership for Public Service.

All 31 finalists for the 2013 Service to America Medals, called the “Sammies” (#sammies2013), have shown a strong commitment to public service and made significant contributions that are innovative, high-impact and critical for the nation.

The Partnership for Public Service, which will hold a gala event in October where the medals for each category will be awarded, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works to revitalize the federal government by inspiring a new generation to serve and by transforming the way government works. For more information, visit http://ourpublicservice.org.

The Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals pay tribute to the best in the nation’s federal workforce and inspire a new generation to join in service to the country. For more information on the Sammies and all of the 2013 finalists, visit www.servicetoamericamedals.org.

WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013, the Department of the Interior will hold the second of three tribal consultation sessions on its Initial Implementation Plan outlining how Interior will carry out the land consolidation component of the historic Cobell Settlement. The meeting will take place in Rapid City, S.D., with the remaining session to be held Feb. 14 in Seattle, Wash. The first consultation meeting was held in Prior Lake, Minn., on Jan. 31.

“The Land Buy-Back Program is a historic opportunity to address the fractionation problem and restore lands to Indian tribes, but it will not succeed without the active support of tribal leaders,” said Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn. “The Department is keenly interested in receiving guidance from tribal leaders on the draft Plan.”

The Settlement provided a $1.9 billion fund to purchase fractional interests in American Indian trust lands from willing sellers, thereby enabling federally recognized tribal governments to use the consolidated parcels for the benefit of their communities. The Plan reflects comments received from tribal consultation sessions the Department held in the summer and fall of 2011 and on a draft Plan released in January 2012. On Dec. 18, the Department announced the launch of the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations, which will purchase the fractional interests, as well as a Secretarial Order outlining the program’s organizational structure.

For more information about the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations, the Cobell land consolidation component, the Initial Implementation Plan, and the Department’s 2011 and 2013 tribal consultation sessions, visit www.doi.gov/buybackprogram.

CREDENTIALS: All media must present government-issued photo I.D. (such as a driver’s license) and valid media credentials.

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WASHINGTON, DC – Building off of sustained momentum from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program), Deputy Secretary Mike Connor today announced that purchase offers worth more than $63.5 million have been sent to nearly 2,800 landowners with fractional interests on the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation in South Dakota (homeland of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate). Interested sellers will have until November 24, 2014, to return accepted offers.

The tribe will host an outreach event on Wednesday, October 15 at the Tribal Elderly Center in Agency Village, S.D. The all-day event will feature speakers from the Buy-Back Program and staff available to help landowners with questions about their offer packages. Landowners can contact the tribe’s staff at: 605-698-8296 or 605-698-8203.

As part of President Obama’s pledge to help strengthen Native American communities, the Buy-Back Program has successfully concluded transactions worth more than $146.4 million and has restored the equivalent of more than 280,000 acres of land to tribal governments.

“The Buy-Back Program is a unique opportunity and I am encouraged by the growing interest we are seeing in the Program across Indian Country as well as the partnerships we are developing with tribal governments as implementation moves to each location,” said Deputy Secretary Connor. “Payments through Program sales are already making a significant difference for individuals, families and their communities. We will continue to work closely with tribal representatives to ensure that individuals are aware of this historic opportunity.”

The Buy-Back Program implements the land consolidation component of the Cobell Settlement, which provided $1.9 billion to purchase fractional interests in trust or restricted land from willing sellers at fair market value within a 10-year period. Individuals who choose to sell their interests receive payments directly into their Individual Indian Money (IIM) accounts. In addition to receiving fair market value for their land based on objective appraisals, sellers also receive a base payment of $75 per offer, regardless of the value of the land.

Consolidated interests are immediately restored to tribal trust ownership for uses benefiting the reservation community and tribal members. For example, the Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation recently announced that the tribe is embarking on a $9 million housing program, aided by the recent acquisition of land through the Buy-Back Program.

Sales of land interests will also result in up to $60 million in contributions to the Cobell Education Scholarship Fund. This contribution is in addition to the amounts paid to individual sellers, so it will not reduce the amount landowners receive for their interests.

There are almost 245,000 owners of nearly three million fractional interests, spanning 150 Indian reservations, who are eligible to participate in the Buy-Back Program. Many see little or no economic benefit from what are often very small, undivided interests in lands that cannot be utilized due to their highly fractionated state.

Offers are currently pending at a number of additional locations with deadlines approaching soon, including the Gila River (TODAY), Northern Cheyenne (Oct. 17), Flathead (Oct. 24), Umatilla (Oct. 31) and Crow (Nov. 21) Indian Reservations.

Landowners can contact the Trust Beneficiary Call Center at 888-678-6836 with questions about their purchase offers. Individuals can also visit their local Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) or Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) office, or find more information at www.doi.gov/buybackprogram/landowners in order to make informed decisions about their land.

Individual participation is voluntary. A decision to sell land for restoration to tribes does not impact a landowner’s eligibility to receive individual settlement payments from the Cobell Settlement, which are being handled by the Garden City Group. Inquiries regarding Settlement payments should be directed to 800-961-6109.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – As part of President Obama’s commitment to help Alaska Native leaders build strong, prosperous and resilient communities, Deputy Secretary of the Interior Mike Connor today announced that Interior is launching initiatives to streamline Native land conveyances, improve rural energy development and provide greater local participation in the management of subsistence fish and wildlife resources on federal lands.

“Our goal is to work with Alaska Native leaders to address issues of vital importance to their communities,” Connor told the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention in Anchorage. “We are prioritizing remaining Native land conveyances, expanding local participation in the decision making process for resource management on federal lands and changing regulations to permit the Federal Subsistence Board to use more flexible criteria to better meet the subsistence needs of Alaska residents.”

Connor also announced that Interior is providing an additional $300,000 in direct funding to the Remote Community Renewable Energy (RCRE) partnership to accelerate development of a renewable-diesel hybrid energy system designed to provide cheaper and cleaner energy to remote communities such as Alaskan native villages, and another $100,000 to related work advancing the capabilities of this hybrid energy technology. The RCRE initiative is led by the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and Colorado University, in collaboration with native Alaskans, other Federal agencies including the State Department and other stakeholders. The RCRE partnership commenced work in 2013 with an initial $300,000 grant from the Interior Department.

“This additional funding will help to stand up this exciting new hybrid energy module system that could allow Alaskan villages to replace up to 75 percent of their diesel fuel with renewable energy,” Connor said. “Our hope is that this project will make a real difference for rural villages that are paying extremely high costs for heating and electricity.”

The project under development is a modular, scalable control and communication system designed to allow any micro grid component, such as a wind turbine, solar panel, diesel generator and/or energy storage device, to plug-in and contribute to the micro grid.

Earlier in his Alaska visit, Connor signed the final patent for the transfer of 10,170 acres of surface estate to Nunamiut Corporation, which represents the village of Anaktuvuk Pass, satisfying the remaining land entitlement to that community under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. With this final patent, Anaktuvuk Pass will have received 92,160 acres. Additional acreage was also transferred to the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation at that signing ceremony.

“96 percent of the land entitlements have been conveyed to Alaska Natives, and we are prioritizing remaining Native land conveyances and patenting to reach 100 percent,” Connor said. “The BLM hopes to complete virtually all Native land conveyances within the next 5-8 years to fulfill this important promise.”

Nearly 44 million acres of the 45.7 million acres of Native land entitlements under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act have been conveyed to Alaska Native corporations over the past 40 years, Connor noted. All but 10 million acres of those conveyances have received final patent. Most of the remaining lands have been surveyed but need survey plats and final patent confirmation. Final entitlement has been met for 99 villages with 135 remaining requiring closure.

In response to concerns of Alaska Native leaders, Interior will also change the rural/non-rural determination process for the fish and wildlife subsistence program on federal lands. When implemented through regulations, the new process will enable the Federal Subsistence Board to use more flexible criteria to designate rural communities, better meeting the subsistence needs of Alaska Native and rural communities that rely on hunting and fishing for sustenance and the maintenance of cultural traditions.

The federal government assumed management of subsistence wildlife resources on federal lands in Alaska 1992 and the fish resources on certain state waters in 1998 when the State of Alaska could not comply with the subsistence priority provisions of Title VIII of Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). The new initiative follows earlier actions by Interior and the Federal Subsistence Board that added two additional public members representing subsistence users and named a new Board chairman. Deference to the regional advisory councils in the regulation process was also expanded.

Connor also said Interior agencies have been tasked to develop a proposal for a demonstration project to provide enhanced participation of local people and subsistence users in the decision making process for resource management on federal lands.

“The Alaska Federation of Natives and other Native groups have long sought more cooperation in the management of federal lands, especially in the case of subsistence management,” Connor said. “And Secretary Jewell has also recommended that more use be made of cooperative agreements with local tribes and other entities. We want to work with Native communities on developing a project that might be utilized on a wider basis in the future.”

The Alaska Federation of Natives is the largest statewide Native organization in Alaska. Its membership includes 151 federally-recognized tribes, 134 village corporations, 12 regional corporations and 12 regional nonprofit and tribal consortiums that contract and compact to run federal and state programs.