OPA

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Acting Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Donald E. “Del” Laverdure today announced that the U.S. Department of the Interior will conduct a series of listening sessions with federally-recognized tribes regarding American Indian sacred sites located on federal lands.

“It is critical that we listen to tribal people about sensitive and significant cultural issues concerning sacred sites,” said Laverdure. “Our nation-to-nation relationship is one that is based upon mutual respect, and that includes an on-going dialogue about places central to Indian identity and cultural ways of life.”

The Obama Administration recognizes that the protection of sacred sites on federal lands is integral to traditional religious practices, tribal identities and emblematic of sovereign tribal nations. These sacred site listening sessions are intended to assist in developing policies that result in effective, comprehensive and long-lasting federal protection of, and tribal access to, the places that are so important to the fabric and culture of tribal nations.

To address tribal concerns regarding sacred sites issues, Interior will conduct listening sessions on sacred sites in general, as well as knowledge relating to specific sites on Interior-managed tribal trust and other federal lands. The Department will be better equipped to make decisions that are sensitive to the ceremonial use and physical integrity of sacred sites through the benefit of tribal input and views on such matters.

“We invite recognized leaders of tribal governments and, if a tribe so elects, extend the invitation to designated spiritual leaders granted authority by the recognized tribal leadership to participate as tribal officials.” Laverdure said. “Tribal leaders have worked very hard with Interior in the past on these issues and we acknowledge their tireless efforts and hard work.”

Interior is seeking input regarding sacred sites, including:

• Meanings of sacred sites and whether the Department should attempt to define the term “sacred site”;

• Personal views of existing Departmental practices or policies, if any, that should be revised to protect sacred sites and steps necessary to make appropriate revisions;

• Potential development of Departmental practices or policies to protect sacred sites;

• How the Department should facilitate tribal access to sacred sites;

• How the Department should control and grant access to tribally provided information regarding sacred sites;

• Whom the Department should include (recognized leaders of tribal government, tribal spiritual leaders, et.al.) in determining whether a site is considered “sacred” by a tribe.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs will conduct the sacred sites listening sessions at the following dates and times:

Because many Indian tribes have belief systems that discourage or even prohibit the disclosure of the location or other information about sacred sites and places, Interior will respect tribal requests that information about such locations be kept confidential and only share this information with appropriate agency personnel.

For all those unable to attend any of these listening sessions, please send your input/suggestions by September 21, 2012, via email to consultation@bia.gov or the U.S. Department of the Interior, attn.: Mr. Dion Killsback, Counselor to the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, 1849 C Street, NW, MS 4141-MIB, Washington, DC 20240. Should you have additional questions, Mr. Killsback can be reached at (202) 208-6939.

The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs discharges the duties of the Secretary of the Interior with the authority and direct responsibility to strengthen the government-to-government relationship with the nation’s 566 federally recognized tribes, advocate policies that support Indian self-determination, protect and preserve Indian trust assets, and administer a wide array of laws, regulations and functions relating to American Indian and Alaska Native tribes, tribal members and individual trust beneficiaries. The Assistant Secretary oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education. For more information, visit www.indianaffairs.gov.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Acting Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Donald E. “Del” Laverdure today announced that the U.S. Department of the Interior will conduct a series of listening sessions with federally-recognized tribes regarding American Indian sacred sites located on federal lands.

“It is critical that we listen to tribal people about sensitive and significant cultural issues concerning sacred sites,” said Laverdure. “Our nation-to-nation relationship is one that is based upon mutual respect, and that includes an on-going dialogue about places central to Indian identity and cultural ways of life.”

The Obama Administration recognizes that the protection of sacred sites on federal lands is integral to traditional religious practices, tribal identities and emblematic of sovereign tribal nations. These sacred site listening sessions are intended to assist in developing policies that result in effective, comprehensive and long-lasting federal protection of, and tribal access to, the places that are so important to the fabric and culture of tribal nations.

To address tribal concerns regarding sacred sites issues, Interior will conduct listening sessions on sacred sites in general, as well as knowledge relating to specific sites on Interior-managed tribal trust and other federal lands. The Department will be better equipped to make decisions that are sensitive to the ceremonial use and physical integrity of sacred sites through the benefit of tribal input and views on such matters.

“We invite recognized leaders of tribal governments and, if a tribe so elects, extend the invitation to designated spiritual leaders granted authority by the recognized tribal leadership to participate as tribal officials.” Laverdure said. “Tribal leaders have worked very hard with Interior in the past on these issues and we acknowledge their tireless efforts and hard work.”

Interior is seeking input regarding sacred sites, including:

• Meanings of sacred sites and whether the Department should attempt to define the term “sacred site”;

• Personal views of existing Departmental practices or policies, if any, that should be revised to protect sacred sites and steps necessary to make appropriate revisions;

• Potential development of Departmental practices or policies to protect sacred sites;

• How the Department should facilitate tribal access to sacred sites;

• How the Department should control and grant access to tribally provided information regarding sacred sites;

• Whom the Department should include (recognized leaders of tribal government, tribal spiritual leaders, et.al.) in determining whether a site is considered “sacred” by a tribe.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs will conduct the sacred sites listening sessions at the following dates and times:

Because many Indian tribes have belief systems that discourage or even prohibit the disclosure of the location or other information about sacred sites and places, Interior will respect tribal requests that information about such locations be kept confidential and only share this information with appropriate agency personnel.

For all those unable to attend any of these listening sessions, please send your input/suggestions by September 21, 2012, via email to consultation@bia.gov or the U.S. Department of the Interior, attn.: Mr. Dion Killsback, Counselor to the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, 1849 C Street, NW, MS 4141-MIB, Washington, DC 20240. Should you have additional questions, Mr. Killsback can be reached at (202) 208-6939.

The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs discharges the duties of the Secretary of the Interior with the authority and direct responsibility to strengthen the government-to-government relationship with the nation’s 566 federally recognized tribes, advocate policies that support Indian self-determination, protect and preserve Indian trust assets, and administer a wide array of laws, regulations and functions relating to American Indian and Alaska Native tribes, tribal members and individual trust beneficiaries. The Assistant Secretary oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education. For more information, visit www.indianaffairs.gov.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today lauded the final approval of the Cobell settlement and outlined steps that Interior will take to help implement the historic $3.4 billion settlement. The settlement resolves a long-running class action lawsuit regarding the U.S. government's trust management and historical accounting of individual American Indian trust accounts. It became final on November 24, 2012, following action by the Supreme Court and expiration of the appeal period.

“With the settlement now final, we can put years of discord behind us and start a new chapter in our nation-to-nation relationship,” said Salazar. “Today marks another historic step forward in President Obama’s agenda of reconciliation and empowerment for Indian Country and begins a new era of trust administration.”

The settlement includes a $1.5 billion fund to be distributed to class members for accounting and potential trust fund and asset mismanagement claims. The settlement also includes a $1.9 billion fund for a land consolidation program that allows for the voluntary sale of individual land interests that have “fractionated,” or split among owners, over successive generations. Fractionated land can have many owners – sometimes hundreds or more – diminishing the land’s value and making it difficult for individuals to use the land for agriculture, business development, or housing from which tribes can benefit. Up to $60 million of the $1.9 billion fund may be set aside to provide scholarships for American Indians and Alaska Natives to attend college or vocational school.

“This marks the historic conclusion of a contentious and long running period of litigation,” said Hilary Tompkins, Solicitor for the Department of the Interior. “Through the hard work and good will of plaintiffs, Interior and Treasury officials and Department of Justice counsel, we are turning a new page and look forward to collaboratively working with Indian country to manage these important funds and assets.”

Payments to Claimants

The Claims Administrator will now begin overseeing disbursement of the $1.5 billion to nearly 500,000 class members. The court previously approved GCG, Inc., as the Claims Administrator. The Department of the Treasury will transfer the $1.5 billion to an account at JP Morgan Chase, a bank approved by the court. Per the terms of the settlement agreement, Interior’s Office of the Special Trustee (OST) has assisted GCG with its database by supplying contact information of individual class members from its records.

“We will continue to work with GCG to ensure it has the information it needs to make expeditious and accurate payments,” Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes said. “At the same time, we’re focused on making meaningful improvements to our trust administration so that we’re more transparent, responsive and accountable in managing these substantial funds and assets.”

Trust Land Consolidation Program

The Department of the Interior will use $1.9 billion from the Trust Land Consolidation Fund to acquire interests in trust and restricted lands that have “fractionated” over successive generations since the 1880s.

Individual owners will be paid fair market value for such interests with the understanding that the acquired interests will remain in trust and be consolidated for beneficial use by tribal communities. Interested sellers may convey their fractional interests on a voluntary basis. Currently, there are over 2.9 million fractional interests owned by approximately 260,000 individuals.

While the settlement was pending, Interior held a series of consultation meetings with tribes in 2011 to ensure that this landmark program incorporates tribal priorities and promotes tribal participation in reducing land fractionation in a timely and efficient way. These discussions informed a draft land consolidation plan released in February of 2012. Interior is incorporating public comments and expects to release an updated plan by the end of the year for additional consultation.

“The land consolidation program is our chance to begin to solve a fractionation problem that has plagued Indian country for decades,” said Interior Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn. “We are anxious to get started. We know that Interior’s continued outreach through consultations with Indian Country is a crucial component to accomplishing truly open government-to-government communication”

Congress approved the Cobell settlement on November 30, 2010 as part of the Claims Resolution Act of 2010. President Obama signed the legislation on December 8, 2010. The district court approved the Cobell settlement on August 4, 2011 and it has been upheld through the appeals process.

For additional information about the individual class-action payments, please contact GCG, Inc. at 1-800-961-6109 or via email at Info@IndianTrust.com

For additional information on the Trust Land Consolidation Program, please visit http://www.doi.gov/cobell/index.cfm

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WASHINGTON – Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Aurene M. Martin today announced that the Joseph K. Lumsden Bahweting Anishnabe School, a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) grant day school operated by the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Michigan, has been named a 2003 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. The school is among 233 public and private elementary and secondary schools who are the first to be honored under the Department’s new No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools Program, which recognizes schools that make significant progress in closing the achievement gap or whose students achieve at very high levels. The honorees will be recognized during the Education Department’s No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools Awards Ceremony being held today and tomorrow in Washington, D.C.

“I congratulate the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe and the Joseph K. Lumsden Bahweting Anishnabe School on being named a 2003 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School,” Martin said. “Their commitment to achieving the No Child Left Behind Act’s goals has resulted in steady and sustained improvement in their students’ academic performance.”

The Joseph K. Lumsden Bahweting Anishnabe School is a BIA-funded, tribally-operated educational facility that serves 205 students from the Sault Ste. Marie and other Indian communities. The school is being recognized for having met the Education Department’s assessment criterion that at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds have dramatically improved their academic performance, achieved high levels on state assessments and made adequate yearly progress.

There are 184 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 2002-2003, the BIA directly operated one-third of its schools with the remaining two-thirds tribally-operated under BIA contracts or grants.

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.

-DOI-

WASHINGTON D.C. –The Department of the Interior today announced the initial framework of the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations that will purchase fractional interests in American Indian trust lands from willing sellers, enabling tribal governments to use the consolidated parcels for the benefit of their communities.

The initial implementation plan, based on consultation with tribes, outlines how Interior will carry out the land consolidation component of the Cobell Settlement, which provided a $1.9 billion fund to purchase the fractionated interests in trust or restricted land, at fair market value, within a 10 year period. These acquired interests will remain in trust or restricted status through transfer to tribes.

“Freeing up fractionated lands for the benefit of tribal nations will increase the number of acres in tribal land bases, stimulate economic development and promote tribal sovereignty and self-determination,” said Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes. “This initial plan will guide this landmark effort, and we will continually update the plan to reflect lessons learned and tribal input. We know that success will only happen with the leadership of tribes, and we look forward to working through our nation-to nation relationship to implement the important initiative.”

As outlined in a Secretarial Order also announced today, the organizational structure for the BuyBack Program will consist of a core group in the Office of the Secretary to provide management and performance expertise under the supervision of a Program Manager. The program relies on the extensive expertise and services within Interior, primarily in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Office of Special Trustee for American Indians, to implement the operational aspects, including valuations and acquisitions.

To ensure high-level accountability, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has established an oversight board, which includes the Deputy Secretary, Solicitor, Director of the Bureau Indian Affairs and the Special Trustee for American Indians.

Fractionation of Indian lands stems primarily from the General Allotment Act of 1887 which allotted tribal lands to individual tribal members, often in 80 or 160-acre parcels. The lands have been handed down to heirs over successive generations, causing the number of shared interests in one parcel to grow exponentially. Currently, more than 92,000 tracts of land held in trust for American Indians contain 2.9 million fractional interests.

When tracts have so many co-owners, it is often difficult and impractical to obtain the required approvals to lease or otherwise use the lands. As a result, highly-fractionated tracts lie idle, unable to be used for any economical or beneficial purpose or for direct use by tribal communities for their members.

“This program is our chance to begin to solve a fractionation problem that has plagued Indian Country for decades,” said Kevin K. Washburn, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. “Tribal leadership and community participation are the cornerstones of this program, and we look forward to extensive communication and continuing consultation with Indian Country as we move forward.”

The plan will use a flexible, adaptive management approach to make continuing improvements based on tribal feedback, lessons learned, and best practices. To unlock the beneficial use of the land and facilitate economic development, the proposed acquisition strategy will prioritize the consolidation of the most highly fractioned tracts of land and will structure acquisitions to maximize the number of tracts in which the tribe gains a controlling ownership interest. To achieve this goal, the Program will target fractionated tracts that are most amenable to cost-efficient valuation techniques.

The Buy-Back Program will be structured to allow as much opportunity for tribal participation and assistance as practical, including consulting with Indian tribes to identify acquisition priorities. The program will actively report progress and communicate with tribal communities throughout the life of the initiative.

Interior has been working on land consolidation efforts since the program was authorized by the Claims Resolution Act of 2010, but could not officially implement the program until the settlement was considered final on Nov. 24, 2012 after appeals were exhausted through the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Now that the Cobell Settlement is final, we are eager to connect with American Indian individuals and tribal leaders across Indian Country about the opportunities the program has to offer,” said Interior Solicitor Hilary Tompkins. “We urge tribal leaders to participate in the consultation processes outlined in the initial implementation plan, including the upcoming consultation sessions.”

As part of the Interior’s continuing dialogue with tribal nations, Interior will host three consultation sessions early next year to discuss the Initial Implementation Plan and receive tribal feedback -- on Jan. 31 in Minneapolis, MN; on Feb. 6 in Rapid City, SD; and on Feb. 14 in Seattle, WA.

The Initial Implementation Plan reflects the comments received from tribal consultation sessions in the summer and fall of 2011 and the draft Implementation Plan released in January, 2012. The plan outlines the initial goals and priorities of the program, summarizes key parameters and operational concepts, and outlines ways in which tribes can participate in the Buy-Back Program through cooperative agreements. The Initial Implementation Plan is available for public comment for 75 days.

Interior holds about 56 million acres in trust for American Indians. More than 10 million acres are held for individual American Indians and nearly 46 million acres are held for Indian tribes. The department holds this land in more than 200,000 tracts, of which approximately 92,000 contain fractional ownership interests subject to purchase by the Buy-Back Program.

For additional information on the Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations and to view the Initial Implementation Plan, please visit www.doi.gov/buybackprogram.

For information about the individual class-action payments under the Cobell Settlement, please contact GCG, Inc. at 1-800-961-6109 or via email at Info@IndianTrust.com.

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The Eskimos sometimes arrive at the Seattle Orientation Center, a motel unit near the University of Washington, Seattle, in heavy parkas, wool clothing, and mukluks.

They come to Seattle as the first lap in a journey toward a better life. Each applied to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Alaska to move to a large city where employment and training opportunities, are better than they are at home.

­ In the opinion of BIA's Employment Assistance Branch in Alaska, the Alaska Native, whether Eskimo, Indian or Aleut, needs orientation to urban life in the "Lower 48" before he can be successfully trained or employed. This is the task of the Bureau's "halfway house" the Seattle Orientation Center.

When the Eskimo was accepted in the program he may have been picked up by a bush-pilot in a four-place plane which landed on the over with pontoons in summer or skis in winter. He was then flown the largest nearby town where he took a commercial plane, probably to Anchorage or Fairbanks. There he boarded a jet and in a matter of hours was in Seattle.

When he arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport the Eskimo was met by a BIA employee and taken to the Seattle Orientation Center, which takes up two-thirds of a wing of the Coach House Motel, at 4801 24th Avenue, N.E.

Airplanes, radios, and boats are familiar to him. Cars and buses are strange. Asked if he had ever been in a city, one Eskimo replied; "Yes, I've been to Bethel." Bethel is a town in Alaska of about 1,500 population.

At home he may have known and spoken to everyone. In Seattle he may know no one. No one speaks nor smiles. If a person did not speak nor smiles at home, that meant he was angry.

If the Eskimo is alone in Seattle he will be housed with several other single men. If he comes with his family, they will be housed together. Each living unit has a couch, kitchen, coffee table, several beds. Cribs and cots are available.

The Eskimo initially is taken on a tour of the city, instructed in map reading, and urged to telephone the bus company for instructions to what bus to take if this becomes necessary. The. University ­­ Village Shopping Center near the motel becomes a "school." Its two large supermarkets, bank, post office, dime, store, hardware store, and drugstore are used by the Eskimos and their counselors as "textbooks."

The Center inventories clothing needs of the Eskimo, Indian, or Aleut and tries to see that he is properly equipped with the necessities as far as funds permit. The shopping is done in stores that emphasize high quality and low cost. Budgeting does not always come naturally to the Eskimo, raised perhaps on the tradition that the man who kills the largest animal and shares it with his family and neighbors is the man to be admired.

A group counseling session in which the Eskimo is encouraged to air his difficulties takes place each day at 9:30 a.m. In the afternoon, the Eskimo is taken through various commercial and industrial operations to give him an idea of what is involved in various kinds of work. Although the Alaskan has made his decision as to the city to which he will go and the occupation he will enter either directly or through training - he sometimes needs additional vocational advice.

The Eskimos are also taken to a session of the Seattle municipal court where they are impressed with the difference between law in a city and that in Alaska. The judge often addresses them personally.

The Eskimo, Indian, or Aleut ordinarily stays at the Center at least two weeks, although he may remain as long as the staff of the Center believes orientation is necessary.

He leaves for other Employment Assistance Offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs including those in Chicago, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Denver, Los Angeles, Alameda, San Jose, Washington, D.C., and the Madera, Calif., and Roswell, N.M. Training Centers. The Madera and Roswell Training Centers specialize in whole family training of the disadvantaged. At these centers the Alaska Native receives train­ing in a vocation leading to employment in the Lower 48 or in Alaska if that is his plan.

The Eskimos are taken to the bus depot by Seattle Orientation Center personnel to leave for their training or employment destination. Each has a folder that gives in detail information about the city for which they are bound and how to get to their hotel. They are given cab fare. If they arrive before 4:00 p.m., they call the Bureau of Indian Affairs Employment Assistance Office in their destination city. If not, they telephone next day.

Since the Seattle Orientation Center started operations in July, 1963, 1,264 Eskimos, Indians, and Aleuts have been served. Approximately 8 percent of that number were returned to Alaska either because they changed their minds about relocation or because of emotional or physical difficulties which made actual relocation impossible.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Acting Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Donald E. “Del” Laverdure today announced that the proposed rule implementing the Buy Indian Act has been published in the Federal Register. The Buy Indian Act provides Indian Affairs with the authority to set-aside procurement contracts for qualified Indian-owned businesses. This proposed rule describes uniform administrative procedures that Indian Affairs will use in all of its locations to encourage procurement of goods and services from eligible Indian economic enterprises, as authorized by the Buy Indian Act.

“We are working hard to bring to fruition the collaborative efforts of many to put these rules into action,” said Laverdure. “There have been several prior proposed rules and consultations but never a final rule. We are committed to finalizing this rule as well as upholding our nation-to-nation relationship in going about this very important task.”

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has obtained services and supplies from Indian sources using the Buy Indian Program since 1965, based on policy memoranda. This rule is proposed to describe uniform administrative procedures that the BIA will use in all of its locations to encourage procurement relationships with eligible Indian-owned businesses in the execution of the Buy Indian Act.

This proposal incorporates the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs decision to increase economic development and employment of Indian persons by reducing the percentage of Indian ownership of business enterprises from a mandatory 100 percent to minimum 51 percent.

In addition, the regulations respond to and incorporate the nuances of the Section 831 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 (10 U.S.C. 2301 note) that amended 25 U.S.C. 47 to allow Indian firms to participate in the Department of Defense’s Mentor-Prote´ge´ Program and not lose their eligibility for contracts awarded under the authority of the Buy Indian Act. This proposed rule includes language stating that participation in the Mentor-Prote´ge´ program has no effect on eligibility for contracts awarded under the authority of the Buy Indian Act.

The proposed rule also includes revisions to address the input received as a result of earlier publications and three consultation hearings in Indian Country.

“We invite tribal leaders and representatives to attend these very important consultations,” Laverdure said. “Tribal leaders have worked diligently with Interior in the past on these issues and the intended outcomes are to further enhance tribes’ abilities to better develop economic prosperity in Indian Country.”

The Department of the Interior proposes to issue regulations guiding implementation of the Buy Indian Act, which provides the Bureau of Indian Affairs with authority to set aside procurement contracts for Indian owned and controlled businesses. This rule supplements the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Department of the Interior Acquisition Regulations (DIAR). Comments must be received on or before September 24, 2012. Tribal consultation meetings to discuss this rule will take place on:

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jonodev Chaudhuri, Office of the Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs, (202) 208–7163; jonodev.chaudhuri@bia.gov; or David Brown, Office of Acquisitions - Indian Affairs, (703) 390–6605, David.Brown@bia.gov.

The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs discharges the duties of the Secretary of the Interior with the authority and direct responsibility to strengthen the government-to-government relationship with the nation’s 566 federally recognized tribes, advocate policies that support Indian self-determination, protect and preserve Indian trust assets, and administer a wide array of laws, regulations and functions relating to American Indian and Alaska Native tribes, tribal members and individual trust beneficiaries. The Assistant Secretary oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education. For more information, visit www.indianaffairs.gov.

Secretary of the Interior Thomas S. Kleppe has directed the State Director of the Bureau of Land Management's Alaska Office to reserve rights-of-way for the transportation of Federally-owned energy, fuel and other natural resources across lands being transferred to Alaska Natives and Native corporations under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

Under the Act, more than 40 million acres of Federal land will be conveyed to Alaska Natives and Native corporations.

The easements, which will be reserved in patents transferring the lands, will assure the Federal Government of having all rights needed to build roads, pipelines and other facilities required to transport federally owned oil, gas, minerals and other resources across lands awarded to

Alaska Natives. The easements will not be reserved for transportation of private resources.

Earlier, the Secretary rejected a proposal that would have established specific transportation corridors across the State. The present order reserves the right of the Federal Government to establish needed right-of-way and related facilities as those needs are determined, but does not define specific routes at this time.

The order provides for consultation with Natives and other local citizens prior to the time a right-of-way is established and the consent of owners in those cases where the right-of-way makes it necessary to, move or destroy improvements such-as homes, businesses, or industrial facilities. Only those easements actually in use or authorized on the twentieth anniversary of the order will continue to be in force.

The Secretary said that easements will be used to expedite the delivery of Federally-owned energy, fuel, or other natural resources needed to meet the Nation's energy crisis. He said that routes should be care­fully and precisely planned, bl.it doing this prior to issuing conveyances to Alaska Natives would detrimentally affect those entitled to receive land. He also said that easements will be exercised to make possible the development and transportation of resources owned by the Federal Government without unnecessary expense or delay; but that they will not be used to provide special benefits for private industry.

Easements for the transportation of energy, fuels, and natural resource will only be reserved in conveyances of land located on mainland Alaska, excluding the southeastern panhandle of Alaska lying south and east of the former withdrawal for the village of Yakutat. Therefore, they will not be reserved on islands off the coast of Alaska, such as Kodiak and the Aleutian Islands.

The order, which is being published in the Federal Register, 1s effective March 3, 1976.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that the Bureau of Indian Affairs sub agency office, serving the Cocopah and Quechan Indian Tribes, has been made an agency office.

The office was formerly under the Colorado River Agency at Parker, Ariz., some 125 miles north of Yuma Ariz. The Fort Yuma Office is located three miles northwest of Yuma on the California portion of the reservation.

The Colorado River Agency will continue to serve the Chemehuevi, the Fort Mojave and the Colorado River Indian Tribes.

All of the tribes affected by this organizational change have expressed support for the new structure through tribal council resolutions.

Establishment of the new agency is expected to make Bureau services more available to the Cocopah and Quechan Tribes. The distance and the lack of public transportation between Yuma and Parker has been a limitation.

Both agencies are under the Bureau's Phoenix Area Office.

A Federal appellate court decision is expected to bring additional bids in a competitive sale of oil and gas leases on May 6 in Alaska for 31 tracts of Indian land comprising the 26,000-acre Tyonek Reserve (Moquawkie Reservation) near; Cook Inlet, the Department of the Interior announced today.

All royalties and bonuses from the sale of rights will go to the Tyonek Indians.

The sale was scheduled for May 6 two months ago, but a court appeal then pending had caused some prospective bidders to be reluctant about competing.

Sealed bids must be received before 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 6, at the Office of the Area Field Representative, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, 528 at Fifth Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska. All bids will be opened in public in the Lousaac Library, Fifth Avenue and F Street, Anchorage.

The Tyonek Reserve was established in 1915 for Indian use. The land lies some 50 miles from Anchorage, and is across Cook Inlet in an area of considerable oil exploration activity. In 1962 an Anchorage resident filed offers to lease a1m@st all of the Reserve without competition under the 1920 Mineral Leasing Act, but the offers were rejected. Interior's Solicitor determined that the area was Subject instead to a 1927 act governing oil and gas leasing on Indian lands. The 1927 act requires competitive bidding for leases.

The applicant appealed to the U. S. District Court at Anchorage, which upheld the Interior Department. The appeal was carried to the Ninth U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which decided for the Government last Wednesday, April 29. Both sides waived rehearing, thus closing the case.