Office of the Secretary
For Immediate Release: November 15, 2001
Contact: John Wright
202-208-6416
Secretary Norton Announces Plan to Improve
Management of Indian Trust Assets
Plan calls for consolidating trust reform functions
under a separate organizational unit
WASHINGTON - Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton today unveiled plans to reorganize and consolidate Indian trust asset management functions into a separate new organizational unit. The new Bureau of Indian Trust Assets Management will report to a new assistant secretary who will report directly to the Secretary. The new assistant secretary will have authority and responsibility for Indian trust asset management.
"The Bureau of Indian Trust Assets Management is needed to ensure that we move forward in the management of Indian trust reform," Secretary Norton said. "This administration is committed to taking action now that will chart a new course for positive, productive trust reform that will work to benefit American Indian tribes."
Under the proposed plan, trust asset management functions will be organized into the new Bureau of Indian Trust Assets Management. The proposed Bureau of Indian Trust Assets Management will concentrate on four main areas of enhanced capability: trust reform, performance and program management, beneficiary services, and trust asset and investment strategy development. The new assistant secretary will be responsible for many of the functions currently performed by the Office of the Special Trustee. In addition, the new assistant secretary will assume responsibility for trust reform implementation. These functions also include those performed by the Office of Historical Trust Accounting, currently within the Office of the Secretary. In addition, all Indian trust assets management functions currently within the Bureau of Indian Affairs will be transferred to the new Bureau.
Department of the Interior trust responsibilities for American Indians dates back to 1887 to manage, among other things, royalties from grazing, mining, logging, and oil drilling on Indian lands. Management of Indian trust assets has been criticized many times by Congress, the General Accounting Office, the courts, and American Indians during the past 130-year history of this decentralized program. Generations of Indian beneficiaries have relied upon the government offices spread among nearly 300 sites nationwide to manage their assets.
Today's announcement is another step in a series of efforts by Secretary Norton to bring about meaningful trust reform. Since taking office as Interior Secretary in February, Norton has moved on several fronts to help improve the Indian trust program. She created the Office of Historical Trust Accounting to provide focused efforts to get the work done, and she commissioned EDS Inc., a widely respected independent consulting firm, to study the program.
The EDS study provided key recommendations that confirmed the need for dramatic change in management of Indian trust assets.
"These are bold and courageous steps being proposed by Secretary Norton," said Neal McCaleb, assistant secretary for Indian Affairs, who has started the consultation process with the Indian tribes. "This concept is well thought out and well conceived. Secretary Norton has my dedication and support."
As provided for under the Trust Reform Act of 1994, the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians will continue to monitor and provide oversight of trust reform efforts. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, under the supervision of the assistant secretary for Indian Affairs, will continue to focus on education, economic development, and tribal construction projects, along with the services they currently provide to tribes and to serve as the primary point of contact for other Bureau of Indian Affairs related activities.
"Strong, decisive actions are needed for trust reform," said Thomas Slonaker, who heads the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians. "These are good, solid recommendations, and I support the overall approach."
The attached chart depicts the proposed new organizational unit.
- DOI -