1987-03-03 Char-Koosta News

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VOLUME 15, NUMBER 28
THE MONTH OF THE GEESE
MARCH 3, 1987
BIA's 'divestiture initiatives' labelled greatest threat since termination era
The latest chapter in the Bureau of Indian Affairs' plan to distance itself from Indian affairs concerns 5.9 million acres of forests owned by 100 tribes in 23 states.
The BIA calls its newest proposal the Forestry Privatization Initiative, which means what it sounds like: letting the private sector take over the management of Tribal timber land. In
addition, the Bureau has scheduled a 33% cut in its forestry budget, and plans to charge tribes an increasing amount of administrative fees over time, beginning with FY-88, which starts Oct. 1, 1987.
At the heart of the proposal appears to be the opinion of one Frank Ryan, an assistant to BIA head Ross Swimmer. Ryan believes the Bureau's trust
responsibility with regard to Tribal forest resources only covers fire and insect danger. Why should the BIA help tribes make money with their resources, he seems to reason.
Tribes with  timber,  of course, strongly oppose the initiative. As with Swimmer's plans to "privatize" its education and money management (Concludes on page two)
Billy Mills to speak at
Nationally known motivational speaker and former Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills will be part of the 4th annual Antoine "Stoney" Curley Memorial this Friday in St. Ignatius.
Curley died four years ago at the age of 17 as a result of an alcohol-related motorcycle accident His family holds a memorial and youth conference every spring in the hopes that others might learn a lesson from his untimely death.
memorial
The day-long event, which is being co-organized by the Tribal Health Dept., will also include a showing of the film, "Children of Denial", and a presentation by counselors Gary Acevedo and Norbert Dupuis about "The Healing Power of Play - A New Game Plan". Both dinner and lunch will be served at no charge. A wardance will cap off the day (see (Concludes on page eight)
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