31 January 2000 thru 1 January 2000

(These are national news stories that I have found and clipped to post here for your information. Follow the "next" image thru the archives to 11 June 1999)

26 January 2000

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- Richard Davis, who helped develop U.S. Olympic and oarsmen, will receive a U.S. Olympic Committee Rings of Gold award this year.

Davis is rowing coach at St. Paul's School in Concord, N.H. Charles Altekruse, a 1980 and 1988 Olympic rower, was one of Davis' high school students.

Also receiving the award, which will be presented Feb. 11 in Atlanta, is the Native American Sports Council, which promotes sports within Native American communities.

21 January 2000

E-Realbiz and Slingshot Entertainment to Release Newest Title Originally Presented in IMAX Theatres

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., Jan. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- e-Realbiz, in conjunction with the company's recent North American distribution agreement with SlingShot Entertainment, has announced the premiere release of the powerful and visually stunning IMAX(R) film "WOLVES" to the DVD format with special bonus features on February 8, 2000.

"WOLVES," which earned over $3 million on only 21 screens in its theatrical release, tells the remarkable story of one of the world's most tenacious species and our closest fellow predator: Canis lupus (the gray wolf). During eight months of filming that produced over 28 miles of film footage, the seven-person production crew of "WOLVES," led by award winning director David Douglas (Fires of Kuwait, Survival Island) and wolf researcher Rick McIntyre, followed their elusive subjects across remote landscapes in an effort to have their camera catch glimpses of a way of life for some of nature's most feared and misunderstood creatures, which were previously known only to a handful of scientists.

The resulting story proves that wolves are making a comeback not only physically through recovery project efforts across the continents, including "Operation Wolfstock" in Yellowstone National Park, but also in changing attitudes around the planet. Against all odds, and with determination and cooperation, a long-broken link in our planet's ecological chain has been repaired.

An engaging and informative film that combines the scientific expertise of the National Wildlife Federation with the grandeur of the large-screen format, the film smashes misconceptions, old wives' tales and stereotypes that have dogged the wolf for centuries, revealing many little-known facts about this elusive creature. The scope of the film spans millennia, from the time wolves lived peacefully alongside prehistoric buffalo to their near-extinction and extraordinary comeback this century. Filled amongst stunning vistas and breath-taking locales, "WOLVES" reveals the surprising and often poignant nature of wolves in the wild.

Filmed on locations that include Yellowstone National Park, Montana, Idaho, Alaska and Quebec, "WOLVES" provides viewers with intimate and rarely seen footage of one of North America's greatest predators. Narrated by singer-songwriter Robbie Robertson and accompanied by an inspiring soundtrack of Native American music which adds a deeply poignant element to the film and propels viewers on an inner quest of their own.

"WOLVES" is a National Wildlife Federation presentation of a Primesco Communications film. The special DVD presentation of "WOLVES" features the following bonus materials:

-- Dolby Digital 5.1 sound
-- Special "Making of WOLVES" documentary
-- A 47-minute feature "Survival of the Yellowstone Wolves" hosted by Matthew Fox ("Party of Five"), produced by the National Wildlife Federation and Turner Original Productions
-- Interactive motion menus
-- PC Friendly(R)
-- Four separate language tracks (English, German, French, Japanese) e-Realbiz is a full service, turnkey e-commerce solutions company specializing in the marketing and distribution of brands through television, radio, print and online marketing. The mission of the company is to provide complete support for any company wishing to compete in the growing e-commerce frontier. e-Realbiz has quickly established them-selves as "the innovators in electronic commerce for the new Millennium" as a one-stop-shop for direct marketing and multi-channel distribution.

Founded in 1998, SlingShot Entertainment is a leading supplier of DVD and VHS product, and an affiliate of privately-owned The Enterprise, a world- renowned multimedia production complex based in Burbank, CA. SlingShot has gained a reputation for excellence and innovation of its DVD content as pioneers of advanced DVD features for audio, video, menus, authoring and bonus presentations.

For more information on these and additional titles, please visit www.erealbiz.com or www.slingshotent.com. SOURCE e-Realbiz

18 January 2000

States Rights vs Indian Nations Sovereignty

The following is a complete reprint of an article published in the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission Masinaigan Quarterly Newpaper Winter 1999-2000 issue:

Indian Tribes should be subject to state law, says Republican presidential candidate and Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

Either ignorant or unmindful of hundreds of years of treaties, the U.S. Constitution and several Supreme Court decisions, Bush denied the sovereign status of Indian Nations. "My view is that state law reigns supreme when it comes to the Indians, whether it be gambling or any other issue," Bush said during a recent campaign swing in New York State. Tribal leaders were incredulous. "[Only] the federal government has the authority," said Mark Emery, a spokesman for the Oneida Nation.

18 January 2000

Indians Editing History of Name

CLEVELAND (AP) -- The Cleveland Indians are rewriting the history of their nickname a little bit this year.

The team plans a slight change in its 2000 media guide in the section about the origin of the nickname "Indians." For more than 30 years, the team has claimed it was named in honor of Louis Sockalexis, a Penobscot Indian who played for the Cleveland Spiders from 1897-99.

"We wanted to give a more accurate portrayal of the process of how the name was chosen," Indians vice president Bob DiBiasio said Tuesday.

The name "Indians" was said to have been given as a tribute to Sockalexis after fans were asked to vote on a name by local newspapers.

However, DiBiasio said research has shown that Cleveland owner Charles W. Somers had wanted to use the nickname "Indians" and asked local baseball writers to solicit their readers for their favorite nickname.

"And the name selected was Indians," said DiBiasio. "What we're going to do is change one sentence to more accurately portray that."

The history section of last year's media guide says: "In fan balloting through a local newspaper, Indians was chosen to honor former Spider Louis Sockalexis, the first well known Native American professional baseball player."

DiBiasio said that passage will be altered slightly in this year's guide.

"We'll say something to the effect that, 'that Somers solicited writers to ask their fans for their favorite nickname, and in turn, the name "Indians" was selected. And as legend has it, Indians was in reference to Sockalexis,"' DiBiasio said.

DiBiasio said the change was prompted by research done by Ellen Staurowsky, an Ithaca College professor who has been campaigning for the Indians to change their name, and by Morris Eckhoue, executive director of the Society of American Baseball Research.

In recent years, protesters have demonstrated against the "Indians" nickname and the club's smiling Chief Wahoo mascot, saying they are degrading to American Indians and that the club should make a change.

Cleveland fans sometimes argue the nickname was meant as a tribute to Sockalexis and not an insult.

"This hasn't changed anything in our estimation," said Juanita Pelphrey of the United Church of Christ, a critic of the nickname and logo. "It's still perpetuating a lie."

Merchandise featuring the Chief Wahoo logo is among baseball's best-selling.

Larry Dolan, who is buying the Indians from Richard Jacobs, said the name and logo will remain under his ownership.

The team first began mentioning the Sockalexis link in its 1968 media guide, and in the 1999 guide a full page was devoted to Sockalexis and a history of Cleveland's nicknames.

18 January 2000

Oglala Sioux Protesters Take Control of Tribal Headquarters

PINE RIDGE, S.D. (AP) -- About 100 Oglala Sioux occupying their tribal headquarters are demanding a federal investigation and the resignations of the treasurer and some members of the governing council.

"We're not giving up here until these demands are met," group spokesman Dale Looks Twice said Monday. "But we don't anticipate violence unless they pursue the violence.

"We're a peaceful group. We've got women and children in this building. We're unarmed."

The group, which is allied with tribal President Harold Dean Salway, took control of the building on the Pine Ridge Reservation on Sunday.

The protesters are calling for an audit, for the FBI to seize tribal records dealing with law enforcement, housing and other programs, and the immediate resignation of Treasurer Wesley "Chuck" Jacobs. They initially said they wanted the resignations of all 17 members of the council, but Looks Twice said today they want eight members ousted.

"The bottom line is, we want accountability and responsibility by our elected officials," Looks Twice said.

He said that three members of the five-member executive board had voted to authorize the FBI to retrieve financial records.

The FBI could take the records if authorized by the tribe, said Mark Vukelich, FBI senior supervisory agent in Rapid City. But he said the agency had not seen the board's resolution.

Members of the council have voted to throw the protesters out of the building and have tribal law officers enforce bans on the spread of false propaganda and actions that interfere with council business.

On Sunday, federal agents seized paper files and computer records from the Oglala Sioux Housing Authority. U.S. Attorney Ted McBride said the warrant was related to an investigation of programs funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Salway signed an order late Monday suspending Jacobs for a second time. He suspended Jacobs in October for allegedly mismanaging tribal funds, but a tribal judge lreinstated him.

Jacobs has denied the allegations of mismanagement of tribal or federal funds.

Most of the tribe's 12,100 members live on the reservation, one of the nation's poorest areas.

18 January 2000

Corruption Charges Inflame Indian Reservation

PINE RIDGE, S.D., Jan 18 (Reuters) - A group of Oglala Sioux Indians who believe their tribal leaders have misappropriated millions of dollars from the poverty-stricken Pine Ridge Indian reservation, Tuesday gave the FBI boxes of tribal financial records.

They called for federal authorities to help unravel allegations of widespread corruption within the Oglala government.

An estimated 200 Oglala Sioux, who were occupying the government building Tuesday afternoon and refusing to let the tribal treasurer and 17 tribal council members into their offices, said federal intervention was needed.

The protesters said they believed that council members used federal dollars allotted to the tribe to enrich themselves at the expense of the residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. President Clinton last summer visited the reservation as part of a tour of the poorest areas in the United States.

"We are fed up with long-term mismanagement and mishandling of tribal funds," said Natalie Hand, a spokeswoman for the protesters. "We have grandmas ask for $50 for a load of wood so they can have heat for the winter and they're turned away. Meanwhile, these councilman are driving around in brand new cars."

The protesters seized the government headquarters building Sunday, after the FBI seized financial records at the reservation's housing programmes office in an unrelated investigation.

The housing office provides affordable housing for reservation residents using funds provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. But for years, many Oglala people have complained that housing is grossly inadequate and is provided to people based on favouritism, not on need.

FBI spokesman Paul McCabe said the housing probe was separate from the matters at council headquarters. The FBI is working with HUD as part of an going investigation, he said.

The documents that were collected Tuesday from the council offices are being held for safekeeping until federal officials determine whether or not an investigation into council actions are warranted, McCabe said.

Council members could not be reached for comment. McCabe said an executive committee of the Oglala government approved the FBI's seizing of the documents as a way to try to keep peace with the protesters.

The allegations against the tribal council include the shifting of federal programme money into a general fund that is used for such things as hefty monthly auto allowances for council members and unauthorised borrowing by council members from the general fund, Hand said.

In addition to seeking federal help, the protesters were going to an Oglala tribal court in an attempt to throw the council members and treasurer out of office.

17 January 2000

American Indians Take Control of Pine Ridge Tribal Office

PINE RIDGE, S.D. (AP) -- About 100 Oglala Sioux who accuse the tribe of financial mismanagement have taken over tribal headquarters and demanded that the governing council step down.

The group, which is allied with tribal President Harold Dean Salway, took control of the tribal building at the Pine Ridge Reservation on Sunday. About 100 people stayed there overnight and said they will remain until they are satisfied authorities will investigate their allegations.

Members of the tribal council voted to have the protesters thrown out of the building. They voted to have tribal law officers enforce tribal laws that ban the spread of false propaganda and actions that interfere with the conduct of council business.

Council members said they expect the tribe's public safety director to evict the protesters Monday night or Tuesday.

Members of the unarmed group are calling for an audit and have demanded the immediate resignation of tribal Treasurer Wesley "Chuck" Jacobs and all 17 members of the tribal council. They also have asked the FBI to seize tribal records dealing with law enforcement, housing and other programs.

"The bottom line is, we want accountability and responsibility by our elected officials," said group spokesman Dale Looks Twice.

On Sunday, federal agents used to a search warrant to seize paper files and computer records from the Oglala Sioux Housing Authority. U.S. Attorney Ted McBride said the warrant was related to an investigation of programs funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

By Monday evening, Salway, the tribal president, signed an order suspending Jacobs for a second time. He suspended Jacobs in October for allegedly mismanaging tribal funds, but a tribal judge later reinstated the treasurer.

And the council adopted resolutions encouraging a tribal judge to hold Salway in contempt for violating previous court orders that said he did not have authority to fire Jacobs.

Jacobs said there has been no mismanagement of federal or tribal funds and told council members they need to make sure financial records are not destroyed.

"This thing is a total breakdown in tribal government. It's up to you guys to regain control," Jacobs said.

Eileen Janis, a spokeswoman for Salway, said the president and others have become frustrated with Jacobs and the council majority that always supports the treasurer. "We want a complete audit of everything," she said.

Mark Vukelich, senior supervisory agent with the FBI in Rapid City, said Monday afternoon that the protesters have not provided specific allegations.

Most of the tribe's 12,100 members live on the reservation, which consistently ranks as one of the poorest areas of the nation.

15 January 2000

Clinton Proposes Enhanced Civil Rights Enforcement

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Under the watchful gaze of a 100-year-old woman who saw her own share of discrimination, President Bill Clinton Saturday proposed an expanded $695 million budget to better enforce civil rights laws.

In his weekly radio address ahead of Monday's holiday for slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Clinton said the money was needed to expand investigations into hate crimes and police misconduct, and fight discrimination in "finding a home, getting a job, going to school and securing a loan."

While the U.S. economy overall is booming, Clinton said, minority unemployment and poverty rates are still about twice the national average.

"Still there are too many barriers on the road to opportunity, too many examples of Americans facing discrimination in daily life," he said.

Attending his Oval Office remarks was 100-year-old Charlotte Filmore, a Washington area woman of African-American and Native American descent who had two dreams: To see the year 2000, thus living in three centuries, and meet Clinton.

The retired educator, born Oct. 2, 1899, was carefully wheeled into the White House in a wheelchair.

Filmore had assisted Dwight Eisenhower's wife, Mamie, during social events at the White House. At the time, because of her race, she had to enter the White House by a side door.

"Well, today Charlotte Filmore came to the White House through the front door, and all the way to the Oval Office. But there is still more to do," Clinton said.

Filmore was impressed with the 53-year-old Clinton. "I'm so glad I lived to see this day," she said.

After the radio address, Clinton helped escort Filmore out of the West Wing, crouching down to be at eye level with her and patting her on the hand.

"Bless you," he told her. "Oh, it's a great day." Filmore, fighting back tears, told reporters it was a "joyful day, and I can rest now."

"I would like to see a lot of things change, but it's not in my power. It's in God's power and the people behind me," she said, referring to the White House.

Clinton said his request for $695 million for civil rights enforcement would be included in his budget proposal for the 2001 fiscal year, to be unveiled Feb. 7.

That represents a 13 percent overall increase over last year's funding levels. The money would be shared by various government civil rights offices.

It includes $98 million for the Justice Department's civil rights division to allow the department to significantly expand investigation and prosecution of civil rights violations, including hate crimes and police misconduct.

The acting head of Justice's civil rights division, Bill Lann Lee, said the money would allow for a "substantial boost" to civil rights enforcement.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would receive $322 million to help the agency reduce a backlog of alleged discrimination cases.

And the Housing and Urban Development Department would receive $50 million to fight housing discrimination.

The civil rights offices of the Agriculture and Education Departments would also receive money.

Clinton coupled his announcement with a renewed plea to the Republican-led Congress to approve hate crimes legislation that would broaden federal prosecution of violent crimes to those motivated by the fact that the victim is gay or a minority.

"We've seen far too many acts of violence targeted at others solely because of who they are," Clinton said.

Republican critics say laws on the books are sufficient to prosecute hate crimes. Oklahoma Republican Rep. J.C. Watts, who is African-American, said Clinton's hate crimes legislation would "separate and divide" rather than bring people together.

"If we in Washington force states to abide by so-called 'hate' crimes legislation, we are telling some people that their lives are more important than others, that some murders and abuses come from hate and some do not. I believe all do. I believe each should be punished as swiftly and effectively as the others," Watts said in a statement.

15 January 2000

Report: Calif. Web, Mail Cigarette Buyers Still Face State Tax

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- California residents who have bought cigarettes via the Internet, mail order or from American Indian tribes are being told to pay the state's tax on smokes retroactively, according to a report.

California's Board of Equalization is sending letters to 3,200 residents demanding they pay an average $112 each for cigarettes purchased out of state since Jan. 1, 1999, The Orange County Register reported today.

The state charges an 87-cent excise tax per pack, plus sales tax.

Those who escape sales taxes when they buy online or by mail order are supposed to pay the tax to the state themselves. But few smokers pay it voluntarily, and until recently, the state has not attempted to collect.

Brand-name cigarettes purchased in California cost about $34 per carton, but Internet companies charge as little as $24 before shipping. Local retailers had complained to the state they were losing business to Internet sellers.

Out-of-state sellers who ship cigarettes to California are required under federal law to report the name and address of the buyer, as well as the amount sold, said Vic Day, supervisor with the Board of Equalization's excise-tax division.

"If you do go (online) and buy your product, you will be taxed the same as if you bought the cigarettes in state," Day said.

The state, which began notifying online cigarette buyers at the end of 1999, has collected about $100,000 so far.

Officials say they expect to collect about $384,000 total for purchases made in 1999 -- a fraction of the $1.3 billion the state expects to collect in cigarettes taxes in the fiscal year ending in June.

The state said those who don't pay promptly will be charged interest and penalties.

The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs said cigarettes purchased on reservations are tax-free. Day said cigarettes shipped off reservations are taxable, but said California and other states are having difficulty persuading all Indian tribes to comply with the reporting law.

Because the tribes are considered sovereign nations, California can't force them to comply with the reporting requirement, he said.

14 January 2000

U.S. land transfer to Utah tribe would be largest in 100 years

MOAB, Utah -- Energy Secretary Bill Richardson was expected Friday to announce the largest voluntary transfer of federal land to a Native American tribe in more than a century.

The Clinton administration plans to return 80,000 acres to the Northern Ute tribe in the deal, also designed to clean up tons of uranium mining waste in eastern Utah near the Colorado River and two national parks.

Richardson was expected to present the plan during visits to Moab, the only Utah town on the Colorado River, and Ute tribal headquarters at Fort Duchesne.

Almost 90,000 acres, rich in oil shale

The land swap will involve the 88,890-acre Naval Oil Shale Reserve No. 2, about 150 miles (241 km) southeast of Salt Lake City, according to reports this week in The Salt Lake Tribune and The New York Times. The U.S. government has controlled the land since 1916.

The federal government acquired lands rich in petroleum deposits in the early 1900s in case of a national emergency, but such reserves no longer are considered vital.

The plan is to return about 80,000 acres to the tribe, composed of the Whiteriver, Uintah and Uncompahgre bands.

A stipulation is that the tribe return a percentage of revenue generated by oil and gas development on the land to the Energy Department.

The agency will then use the money to clean up the abandoned Atlas mine near Moab, in southeastern Utah.

Uranium contaminants seeping into river

There are 10.5 million tons of uranium tailings at the Atlas site not far from both the Arches and Canyonlands national parks. The sediment spans 150 acres and stands 40 feet (12 m) high.

Contaminants from the Cold War-era tailings are seeping into the Colorado River, 750 feet (229 m) away, and threatening three species of endangered fish: the southwestern willow flycatcher, razorback sucker and Colorado squawfish.

The river is also a source of drinking water for 25 million people in the West. Authorities have said there is no significant threat from the tailings.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission estimated that waste site and groundwater cleanup would cost about $47 million. Moving the waste will cost more than $100 million. The Clinton administration plan was expected to support the removal of the waste to a permanent waste facility 20 miles (32 km) away.

Tribe agrees to pay taxes to local governments

The proposal also calls for designating 21,000 acres of the land being returned as a wilderness area and transferring the remaining 8,000 to 9,000 acres of the reserve to the Bureau of Land Management.

Tribal leaders have agreed to a number of concessions in return for the new land, the Tribune said, including accepting the new land as private property -- meaning taxes would go to local governments -- rather than as tax-exempt reservation property.

"The tribe will once again be the true owner of its traditional lands," O. Roland McCook Jr., chairman of the tribe's governing body, told the Times.

Earlier this week, President Clinton signed declarations for two new national monuments in Arizona and another in California. In 1996, he created the 1.7 million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah.

14 January 2000

American Indians Overlooked by Presidential Candidates, Parties

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Gov. George W. Bush says during an Iowa campaign stop that he's pumping thousands of dollars into an ad campaign to court Hispanics, describing it as "a fresh start for America."

From the church pulpit where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "Mountaintop" speech on the eve of his assassination, Vice President Al Gore invokes the name of the slain civil rights leader to rally blacks in Memphis, Tenn.

As the presidential campaign heats up, the leading contenders are reaching out to minority groups: women, blacks, Hispanics and Asian-Americans. But there is one group that hasn't been wooed, stroked or courted.

The nation's oldest inhabitants -- American Indians.

"We are not even getting a blip on the radar screen of major candidates," said JoAnn Chase, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, a nonpartisan Washington-based lobbying group that represents more than 250 tribes.

Political black-tie fund-raisers are almost nonexistent on the nation's 550 or so reservations. Buses filled with candidates and their entourages rarely pull up to campaign rallies in Indian country.

And while some tribes have strengthened their political clout and gained influence through the financial successes of tribal casinos, most American Indians still remain largely outside of the political sphere.

In fact, President Clinton's visit to the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota last July was the first by a chief executive since Franklin Roosevelt passed through Cherokee country in North Carolina on vacation in 1936.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was the only presidential candidate to speak at the NCAI's national convention in October. And he is the only major candidate who has taken his campaign to the Navajos, the country's largest tribe with 225,000 members and a reservation that spans three states.

Tribes have been wary of Bush, the Texas governor, especially after he was quoted in The (Syracuse) Post-Standard in October as saying "state law reigns supreme when it comes to the Indians, whether it be gambling or any other issue."

The governor refused to elaborate on his comment at the time. But Bush spokesman Scott McClellan repeatedly has said Bush respects the "long-standing tribal sovereignty and self-governance of Native Americans."

Bush has promised to run a "positive, inclusive campaign" that reaches out to people across the United States, McClellan said.

McCain, Gore and Bill Bradley, Gore's rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, did not respond to several requests for comment.

Most American Indian leaders cite demographics, economics and historical disenchantment with the political process as major reasons why politicians make so few overtures to their people.

American Indians make up 1 percent of the population, with 2.4 million people, and are among the poorest. Also, many aren't registered to vote.

"If you line up Indian dollars to other interests, it doesn't bode well in a process that is dominated by dollars and numbers of votes," Chase said. "The perception is that you don't carry a lot of weight in determining the outcome."

Times are changing, though, and both parties are beginning to take notice of the growing political muscle some tribes have shown in important states like California, where tribes won approval for gambling despite opposition from the powerful gambling industry in Nevada.

In California, tribes are using their success with the gambling initiative to broaden their political leverage to other issues such as tribal sovereignty, taxes and dealings with labor unions.

"We are not a huge voting bloc like Hispanics and blacks, but in key states, we matter," said Gwen Carr, former political director of American Indians for the Democratic National Committee and former executive director of the state party in Arizona.

14 January 2000

Rules for Salmon Protection Expected from Forest Board

OLYMPIA, Wash., Jan. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Another milestone on the road to implementing the new Forests & Fish Law is expected next Thursday (Jan. 20) from the state Forest Practices Board in Olympia.

The rule-making body is scheduled to consider the final draft of an "emergency," or temporary, set of forestry rules modeled after the Forests & Fish Law, which was approved by the 1999 state legislature. Forests & Fish brings a higher level of salmon habitat and water quality protection to private forest land across the state.

"Reaching agreement on Forests & Fish last year after 15 months of negotiation with other salmon stakeholders was a major step toward success," said Bill Wilkerson, executive director of the Washington Forest Protection Association (WFPA), the largest forest landowner group in the state. "Legislative approval moved us forward again, and now passage of the emergency rules will complete the process."

The Forests & Fish Law is a state-based plan that protects fish and water on eight million acres of private forest land. It stipulates wider forested buffers along 60,000 miles of streams in private forests, where harvest will be prohibited or restricted. It also mandates improved road construction and maintenance standards, to reduce sediment and limit it from entering streams.

Forests & Fish was developed collaboratively when forest landowners joined with state and federal regulatory agencies, Native American tribes and local government to forge a salmon-protection solution. Forests & Fish meets the requirements of both the federal Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act.

"WFPA supports the efforts of the Forest Practices Board to develop emergency rules consistent with the agreement reached by the five stakeholder groups," Wilkerson said. "It's a challenging job and we appreciate the care that board members have taken to develop a good set of rules."

Wilkerson said forest landowners are well on their way to meeting the next challenge -- making the Forests & Fish Law an on-the-ground reality. "Our members have developed new computer models, held technical training sessions, and are making on-going tests at forest sites across the state," he said. "We intend to make Forests & Fish a success."

The board process calls for emergency rules to be replaced by permanent rules, which already are under development, early in 2001.

Founded in 1908, WFPA is a group of large and small private forest landowners who grow, harvest and regrow trees on 4.5 million acres in Washington. The association is based in Olympia. SOURCE Washington Forest Protection Association

14 January 2000

New Book Review

ON THE REZ

By Ian Frazier

Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $25 (295p) ISBN 0-374-22638-5H

When telling non-Indians that he was writing a book about the American Indian, Frazier (Great Plains, etc.) received a nearly unanimous reaction: that the subject sounds bleak. "Oddly," he says, "it is a word I never heard used by Indians themselves." Frazier builds his narrative--or, more deliberately, unpacks it, since he has no discernable plot, chronology or conclusion--around his 20-year friendship with the Indian Le War Lance and the Oglala Sioux of South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation. Though no "wannabe" or "buckskinner," Frazier emulates and reveres "the self-possessed sense of freedom" that he claims is the Indian contribution to the American character, adopted by the earliest European settlers and preserved in our system of government. Frazier's record of his travels with Le War Lance includes the tolls of alcohol, fights and car wrecks (Le claims to have survived 11 of them) and acknowledges the realities as well as the cliches of reservation life. But in his rendering, the calamities of American Indian life are outweighed by the pervasiveness and endurance of that same sense of freedom, a feeling that Frazier captures in his style, his organization, his wonderful eye for detail. Probably no book since Evan S. Connell's Son of the Morning Star has so imaginatively evoked the spirit of the American Indian in American life; like Connell's tours of the Little Bighorn battlefield, Frazier's visits to Pine Ridge and Wounded Knee, and to the descendants of Red Cloud and Black Elk, frame a broad meditation on American history, myth and misconception. Funny and sad, but never bleak, his meandering narrative is, in fact, the composite of many voices and many kinds of history. Agent, Andrew Wylie. (Release January)

13 January 2000

Transcript of Clinton Remarks at Wall Street Project Lunch

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is a transcript of remarks by President Clinton at the Wall Street Project Luncheon (part 2 of 2):

major expansion of the new markets and empowerment zones tax credits, to give investors tremendous incentives to give a long look to the underdeveloped areas in urban and rural America. I want to thank especially Representative Charles Rangel for the very large role that he has played in leading the charge on both these tax credits. (Applause.) I'll ask for more than twice the funding I asked for last year for this tax credit, to spur $15 billion in new investment.

I'm also going to ask Congress to authorize two new components of our new markets agenda. First, our New Markets Venture Capital Firms, a program geared toward helping small and first-time entrepreneurs; and then America's private investment companies, modeled, as I said earlier, on the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, to help larger businesses expand or relocate to distressed, inner-city or rural areas. Now, together, all these components of the New Markets Initiative will leverage over $20 billion of new equity investment in our under-served communities. (Applause.)

Here's how it works. Through our New Markets Venture Capital Initiative and the American Private Investment Corporation, we'll spur new investments in both small and large businesses by telling investors the following: If you put up $1 of equity capital for new markets investments, we'll provide $2 of government guaranteed loans. In some cases, we'll even defer interest payments for up to five years.

What is the practical impact of this? It says, if you're willing to take the chance of seeking a profit in the new markets with new partners, we'll help to lower your financing costs and some of your risks. Then, on top of that, the new markets tax credit will give investors a 25-percent tax credit on investments in the Private Investment Corporation, in the New Market Venture Capital Group, in community development banks, and other funds that invest in our new markets. This will enable us, alone, to increase the amount this tax credit serves, from $6 billion to $15 billion dollars.

Now, is anybody going to, all of a sudden, put money into a sinkhole where they think they'll lose it? No, not unless we give you a 100-percent tax credit. But if you know there is a marginal increased risk, but a potential big reward, not only for your investment, but for our country as a whole, what these initiatives will do will say, hey, take a look at these places in America that have been left behind. And they're out there, and they're gifted people.

I ordered Christmas presents, a few Christmas presents on the Internet this year for the first time. But you know who my seller was? One of America's Indian tribes. When we went to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota -- do you think it's tough in Brooklyn -- do you know what the unemployment rate on the Pine Ridge Reservation is, because it's so far from everyplace? One of the most noble places in America, the home of the Oglala Sioux, the tribe of Crazy Horse -- their unemployment rate in this economy is 73 percent.

So I say to all of you again, I want you to help me pass this New Markets Initiative. I want you to help me increase the empowerment zone tax credits. And I want you to help me keep doing the things that are working. I want you to help me work with Vice President Gore and Secretary Cuomo to get a whole other round of empowerment zone communities, so we can put even more intense efforts there. And I want you to help me make it a nonpartisan deal.

The Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, a Republican from Illinois, joined Reverend Jackson and me and Congressman Bobby Rush and some others in Englewood, Illinois, recently, and he pledged to work with us to find common ground on these proposals. Economic opportunity should not be the political province of any particular party. Economic opportunity should be the birthright of every American. (Applause.)

Let me just mention one other thing I'm going to do, which is related to this, because I think it's important. Our new budget will carry a new initiative we call First Accounts to expand access to financial services to low-income Americans -- an idea long championed by Maxine Waters and many other leaders in Congress. Today, it's hard for some of you to believe, but far too many families have no bank accounts at all. They wind up spending a lot of their precious money on unnecessary fees, therefore, when they pay bills or cash checks.

Under this First Accounts initiative, we're going to work with financial institutions to encourage the creation of low-cost bank accounts for low-income families; to help bring more ATMs to safe places in low-income communities, like the post office; to provide training to help families manage household finances and build assets over time, which will work very nicely with the financial education efforts you're launching at this conference.

And then, finally, I want to convene a roundtable at the White House to build even greater awareness in the corporate community of the benefits of the Community Reinvestment Act. (Applause.) You've already heard a lot of talk about that, but we had to work hard to ensure that when we passed the Financial Modernization bill and expanded the powers and opportunities for banks, we expanded the CRA, as well, and kept it, instead of weakening it. That law has been on the books for over 20 years, with more than 95 percent of all the money loaned under it has occurred in the last five years. And I'm very proud of that because more than a $1 trillion in long-term commitments have been made to invest in our communities.

So I say to you, we've got to do more of this. Especially when you put the responsibilities of financial institutions on the Community Reinvestment Act with all these incentives -- if we can pass them through Congress, we can have a flood of money into areas that have never before had it, to people that have never before been able to get a loan, in ways that are good for all the rest of us, because they'll keep this engine going with no inflation.

Anyway, that is the idea. And I loved all this New Markets tours we've done. And Reverend Jackson and I, many members of Congress, we've stopped at a lot of places where Presidents never go. And I'm having such a good time, we're going to do another one this spring. So, Reverend, you've got to clear you're calendar, we're going to go. And we're going to specifically focus on something that I hope all of you will help us on. We're going to focus on the digital divide. (Applause.)

This very conference is being broadcast live over the Internet to people all over the world. But a lot of the people you're trying to reach don't have a computer, can't afford the hook-up. We have worked very hard, under the Vice President's leadership, to get something called the e-rate as a part of reform of the telecommunications system, which gives a couple of billion dollars in subsidies to schools and libraries around the country that are in low-income areas, so everybody can afford to be hooked up.

When we started five years ago, we had -- only about 14 percent of the schools in our country were connected to the Internet; now over 80 percent are. We're really working hard, and we've had a wonderful partnership with the private sector. But it's not enough for the schools.

I went to Hudson County, New Jersey, which has a lot of first-generation immigrants, in a school that had so many problems it was almost closed by the state. And then the principal of this high school not only started making sure all the immigrant kids whose first language was not English were trained on the computer, they started putting computers in the parents' home and showing them how to do it -- so that all these low-income working people could e-mail their parents, teachers, and their principals every day. The dropout rate went way down and the performance of these kids in a low-income neighborhood, most of them immigrant kids, rose above the state average of New Jersey.

We can do this if we close the digital divide. (Applause.) Your company had a lot to do with that, and I thank you. (Applause.)

So, again, I say, you know, when you know something works and you know you ought to do it, you know, by the way, it will help you as well as help other people, you need your head examined if you don't do it.

I see this as a part of America making the most of this precious moment. This week -- I'll just close with this -- this week, I had one of the great, sort of personal encounters with beauty in my whole life. I flew to the Grand Canyon and I got there late at night. And I stayed in this old lodge built in 1905, which is right out on the edge of the Grand Canyon.

Thirty years ago, when I was a young man, not long after I met Hillary, I drove all the way to California to see her. And I stopped at the Grand Canyon late in the afternoon. And back then, you had greater access before we lawyers got hold of everything. And I crawled out on a ledge and I watched the sun set over the Grand Canyon for two hours. And you know, that canyon was formed over millions of years, and there are lots of layers of rock and lots of different shapes. So when the sun set, the light comes out of the canyon until it disappears, and it changes everything. So for the first time in my life, this week I got to see the sun rise over the Grand Canyon. So when it rises, it goes down into the canyon and has the same impact.

And I went there to set aside another million acres to protect it there, under authority that Presidents have had since Theodore Roosevelt got Congress to pass something called the Antiquities Act, in 1908. And really 100 years ago, the times were -- bore a lot of similarities to today. We were becoming a nation of immigrants; we changed from being an agricultural country to an industrial country -- just like we're going from being an industrial country to an information-based global society now.

And Theodore Roosevelt said that the great hallmark of every young and growing society must be that it takes the long look ahead. It's a nice phrase, isn't it? So if we are what we dearly want our children and grandchildren to believe we are, we will take the long look ahead.

We'll deal with the challenge of the aging of America; the children of America; the need to balance work and family; the need to prove that we can improve the environment as we grow the economy; the need to put a human face on the global economy; the need to stand against the new threats of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, and the old demons of racial and ethnic and religious hatred around the world. But we need to start in the long look ahead with the clear understanding that this is the only time in the lifetimes of most of us here when we ever had a chance to give everyone their shot at the American dream.

When Martin Luther King was preparing to go to Chicago a long, long time ago, and Jesse Jackson was not still in high school, but he was very young -- (laughter) -- in preparation for Dr. King's arrival, Jesse launched Chicago's Operation Breadbasket, an effort to open the dairy, the grocery, the other segregated industries to African Americans. In just two years, he helped more than 3,000 men and women secure good jobs and an income that totaled over $22 million a year. So decades ago, Chicago got a glimpse of how good business could be when more people could play, to use the Reverend's phrase. Now, everyone in America knows this. You are all here in recognition of this.

In a little more than a year, I'll just be a citizen again. And when I leave, I want to know that my country took the long look ahead, to give every poor person a chance to have the dignity that comes when your mind and your body and your spirit are engaged in productive labor for yourself and your family and your children.

Thank you very much. (Applause.)

13 January 2000

OLYMPICS - THORPE TRIBUTE

Colorado Springs: United States Olympic Committee and the Native American Sports Council hold a "Tribute to Jim Thorpe" at 6 p.m. in the U.S. Olympic Visitor Center, 1750 E. Boulder in Colorado Springs. During the tribute, members of the Thorpe family will donate a second gold medal to the USOC Hall of Fame. The family donated the first gold medal to the USOC in 1997. Sculptor Andrew Lester of Oklahoma will also contribute a larger-than-life bust of Thorpe to the USOC Hall of Fame.

13 January 2000

Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP) Receives $100,000 Grant from Denso International America

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- DENSO International America, Inc., DENSO's North American headquarters, today announced that it has made a $100,000 grant to the Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP).

DAPCEP, an independently administered non-profit agency to develop interest in math and science through grades K-12, serves traditionally under- represented minority students (African American, Hispanic and Native American) throughout the Detroit Metropolitan area.

"As a global corporation that employs nearly 9,000 engineers, we are especially gratified by the opportunity to support the important work being conducted by DAPCEP," said President Tony Takeuchi, president and CEO of DENSO International America. "We hope some of the students DAPCEP supports will consider a career with DENSO in the future."

The contribution will be distributed over a five-year period with annual payments of $20,000 each to support the continued implementation and expansion of DAPCEP's programs. They include:

* An in-school curriculum with specialized teacher training;
* A mentoring program;
* Saturday programs in physics, chemistry, algebra, geometry and calculus, and
* Summer academic and employment programs.

Currently, these programs serve nearly 6,000 students in 53 middle schools, 18 high schools and 14 colleges, universities and corporations.

DAPCEP Executive Director Kenneth Hill said, "We are most appreciative of this grant and look forward to developing a long-term relationship with DENSO, including DAPCEP student internships. As a result of experience gained in internships, we hope that DENSO will be one of the companies that DAPCEP students consider for careers after graduation."

Currently, DENSO employs more than 11,000 people at 16 North American companies. North American consolidated sales for 1998 totaled $3.1 billion.

Worldwide, DENSO employs more than 72,000 in 26 countries. Global sales totaled $14.5 billion for the last fiscal year. The parent company, DENSO Corporation, celebrated its 50th anniversary last month. SOURCE DENSO International America, Inc.

13 January 2000

Kennewick Man a Native American, Government Says

SEATTLE (AP) -- Radiocarbon analysis has determined that Kennewick Man, one of the oldest skeletons found on the North American continent, is more than 9,000 years old and an early Native American, the Interior Department said Thursday.

"We do not believe he wandered to the mid-Columbia area. He was born here," said Francis McManamon, chief archeologist for the National Park Service.

McManamon said a study of the sediment adhering to the bones and the shape of the spear point in his hip confirm Kennewick Man lived and died along the banks of the Columbia River.

But the announcement did not settle the future of the bones, which have been at the center of a dispute between Indian tribes and scientists since they were discovered in 1996 near the southeastern Washington town of Kennewick. The tribes want them buried. Scientists want them maintained for study.

An Old Norse pagan group had claimed Kennewick Man as an ancestor in a lawsuit, suggesting his facial structure was that of a Caucasian, and the Interior Department said last fall that he may have been of Polynesian or Asian origin.

McManamon said the skeleton's skull structure is not identical to that of any current Indian population in the area, but he said Kennewick Man's cranium could have changed over the more than 9,000 years it lay in the sediment of the river, and there may be gaps in the archeological record of the region.

"He doesn't look like a European. He doesn't look like an Asian. He doesn't look like any modern population," Interior Department spokeswoman Stephanie Hanna said at the news conference.

Radiocarbon dating on samples of the remains from three laboratories estimated Kennewick Man's age at 9,300 to 9,500 years, McManamon said. Scientists estimate he was at least 40 when he died.

"His age shows that he was here more than 8,000 years before the arrival of European exploration of our hemisphere," McManamon said.

Five area tribes have claimed Kennewick Man as an ancestor. A federal judge has ordered the Interior Department to decide by March 24 whether the remains will be given to a specific tribe.

The order came out of a lawsuit filed by eight anthropologists who want the remains available for study.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 established the right of Indian tribes to the bones of their ancestors.

While the bones would likely remain in the custody of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers if no tribe is chosen, Corps spokesman Dutch Meier said it was not currently clear if scientists would then have the right to study them.

Yakama Tribal Council member Clifford Moses said his tribe's claim has the best chance but that it did not matter which tribe eventually is able to lay claim to the remains, as long as they are reburied.

"We hate to see this go on as a circus," Moses said. "We'd just like to see them back in the ground."

Alan Schneider, a Portland, Ore., attorney representing the anthropologists who sued, has pressed for DNA testing as the most effective means of pinpointing Kennewick Man's origin.

McManamon said the Interior Department was weighing whether to do DNA testing. He said it was not yet clear whether such testing would be useful, but, "Tribes would oppose DNA testing. We take their comments very seriously, as we are obliged to do under the act."

Kennewick Man's bones are among roughly a dozen sets of remains in the United States that are more than 8,000 years old, McManamon said. They also are unusual in that they are nearly complete, with more than 320 bones recovered from a 300-square foot area.

Kennewick Man likely was not among the earliest people on the continent. McManamon said debates about the first humans to set foot here put the dates at between 13,000 and 20,000 years ago or more.

13 January 2000

New Tests Show Ancient Skeleton Is about 9,300 Years Old

SEATTLE (AP) -- New tests on ancient bones that may hold the key to the origins of the first humans on this continent have reinforced previous estimates that the bones are more than 9,000 years old, scientists said today.

The official age of the bones means the skeleton, known as Kennewick Man, will likely be legally classified as Native American. But that is unlikely to end a custody battle over the remains.

The age and origin of Kennewick Man have been in dispute since the human remains, among the oldest and most complete skeletons found in North America, were discovered in the shallows of the Columbia River in 1996.

Scientists have speculated Kennewick Man may have been of European, Asian or Polynesian origin.

The Department of the Interior today released results of radiocarbon dating on the bones, placing their age at between 9,320 and 9,510 years old. The department also said the remains should be classified as Native American under federal law.

Three laboratories were selected by the government to conduct the tests: Beta Analytical in Miami, the University of California at Riverside and the University of Arizona in Tucson.

How to classify ancient remains and who should have custody of such bones is hotly debated these days among researchers, politicians and Indian tribes. The growing rift comes at a time when scientific theory about how the Americas were peopled is also changing, leading researchers to argue that study of pre-Columbian bones is more important than ever.

Such has been the case with Kennewick Man. A group of anthropologists has sued for the right to study the bones, while a coalition of Indian tribes wants to bury the remains without additional examination.

If Kennewick Man can be linked by the government to a modern-day Indian tribe, the bones would likely be returned to the tribe.

Typically, the government has classified bones over 500 years old as Native American, citing the 1990 federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

The federal law was written in response to years of callous and disrespectful treatment of Indian remains in this country.

But some now believe the law is stifling science. In the case of Kennewick Man, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planned to return the bones to the tribal coalition until the anthropologists stepped in.

An Interior Department report in October suggested Kennewick Man may have come from Asia or Polynesia.

A federal judge in Portland, Ore., has given the government until March 24 to decide if it will give the eight anthropologists access to the bones.

Alan L. Schneider, the anthropologists' lawyer, contends the age of the bones is not enough to classify the remains as Native American and the government has erred in its interpretation of the federal law.

"The statute says a skeleton like this is Native American only if it can be shown to be related to a present-day tribe or culture," Schneider said Wednesday.

The anthropologists have been pressing in court for DNA testing as the most effective means of determining Kennewick Man's origins.

The leader of an Old Norse pagan group said Wednesday that the Asatru Folk Assembly, which also claimed Kennewick Man as an ancestor, was withdrawing from the legal dispute.

Stephen McNallen of Nevada City, Calif., said he had run out of money, time and energy, and had "a feeling there is no way justice will be obtained in the case."

12 January 2000

How Old Is Kennewick Man Results

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) -- The federal government on Thursday will release results of carbon-dating tests on Kennewick Man, one of the oldest and most complete skeletons found in North America.

The U.S. Department of the Interior also will decide whether to classify the human remains as Native American under federal law.

Whatever the conclusions, the results are likely to be disputed in this contentious case.

The collection of 350 bones known as Kennewick Man was found in the shallows of the Columbia River in 1996. Initial tests indicated Kennewick Man was about 9,200 years old.

Typically, the government has classified bones over 500 years old as Native American, citing the 1990 federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

The lawyer for eight prominent anthropologists who have sued for the right to study the bones argues that the government has incorrectly interpreted the federal statute that defines how remains are classified as Native American.

"The statute says a skeleton like this is Native American only if it can be shown to be related to a present-day tribe or culture," Alan L. Schneider, a Portland, Ore., lawyer representing the plaintiff anthropologists, said Wednesday.

In a report for the Interior Department, scientists in October said Kennewick man may have had Asian or Polynesian roots.

National Park Service chief archaeologist Francis McManamon will make public the latest test results, providing an estimate of Kennewick Man's age, at the Burke Museum in Seattle, where the remains are stored.

A coalition of five Northwest Indian tribes, which claims Kennewick Man as an ancestor and seeks the return of the bones for reburial without study, objected to the carbon-dating tests as a desecration. The process requires the destruction of a small amount of bone.

The Interior Department also has a March 24 deadline in U.S. District Court in Portland to say whether the bones could be culturally affiliated with any modern-day tribe.

The government also is supposed to decide by that date if it will allow the anthropologists to study the bones.

The anthropologists have been pressing in court for DNA testing as the most effective means of determining Kennewick Man's origins, which is a key factor in determining who gets custody of the bones.

Also Wednesday, the leader of an Old Norse pagan group that also had gone to court claiming Kennewick Man as an ancestor said his Asatru Folk Assembly was withdrawing from the legal dispute.

Stephen McNallen of Nevada City, Calif., said he had run out of money, time and energy, "plus a feeling there is no way justice will be obtained in the case."

12 January 2000

Minority Leaders in Talks with Entertainment Executives

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Vowing unity, a multiracial coalition is reporting progress in talks aimed at putting more minority faces on television and behind the camera.

"We have planted a seed in fertile soil," NAACP President Kweise Mfume declared Tuesday at a new conference where he was joined by Hispanic, Asian-Pacific American and Native American leaders.

The issue of minorities in the entertainment industry came to a boil in July when the NAACP and a coalition of Hispanic groups condemned the near-total lack of minority characters in new fall series.

NBC and ABC last week announced agreements with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to promote diversity, thus removing the threat of a boycott.

On Tuesday, Mfume and other coalition members met with NBC and CBS West Coast executives, and they planned a session at Fox today.

"Have we made progress? Yes. Do we expect more, absolutely," Mfume said.

Mfume came under criticism last week for leaving Hispanic representatives out of negotiations that led to the NBC agreement, but the issue apparently has been resolved.

Esteban Torres, a former congressman who is chairman of the National Latino Media Council, said it was agreed that Mfume will continue to lead current discussions.

"When we have other talks with the WB network, UPN, cable and the movie studios we will share the chairmanship to do all those discussions," Torres said.

"Colored people come in all colors," said Mfume.

Sonny Skyhawk, chairman of American Indians in Film and Television, said a high-ranking network executive should be named to deal solely with diversity progress. He said agreements with the networks must include "mechanisms to monitor the changes that are going to be made."

"There should be somebody in charge (at each network) to assure that there is adequate diversity," Torres added, "Not just some clerk in the back room keeping data."

California Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante took part in the news conference, saying it was inevitable that the nation's minority group leaders deal with the major media in a united fashion.

"Powerful images shown on television and also on the big screen are reflective of the entire community," he said. "There are black and Latino, Asian and Indian doctors, lawyers, teachers and students, and they all need to be shown."

12 January 2000

Clinton declares new national monuments

Critics say Clinton grabbed land without local input

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Arizona (CNN) -- At one of the most revered natural wonders in the United States, President Bill Clinton made a controversial announcement Tuesday designating three new national monuments to protect scenic lands, including one off the Grand Canyon's North Rim.

"This is not about locking lands up; it is about freeing them up from the pressures of development and the threat of sprawl," Clinton said.

Critics, though, say the federal government has usurped congressional power and grabbed the land without local input.

Clinton used the federal Antiquities Act of 1906 -- legislation initiated by President Theodore Roosevelt -- to establish the new national monuments.

Off-limits to development

After taking a helicopter and walking tour of the North Rim, the president headed to the scenic Hopi Point to announce he has accepted Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt's recommendation to designate two national monuments in Arizona, one in California and expand an existing monument in California.

Babbitt is a former governor of Arizona.

Although the land covered by the proposals is owned by the U.S. government, a national monument designation would ban mining, timber cutting or other large-scale development, limiting the income of many area residents involved in those industries.

The White House says the purpose of the monument designation is to protect unique natural, scientific and historic features in each of the sites.

While environmentalists have applauded the move, saying it would protect land amid the rapid expansion of the Southwest, Republican lawmakers and some business interests have attacked it.

"I think this is a blatant attempt by President Clinton to use the Antiquities Act for political purposes to essentially shut out the democratic process," says R.J. Smith, senior environmental scholar with the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington.

Location of the new national monuments

Using executive privileges accorded him under the Antiquities Act, Clinton:

• Designated just over 1 million acres as the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument to protect the land off the Grand Canyon's North Rim.

The new monument, which encompasses an important watershed for the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon, is practically the same size as the adjacent 1.1 million-acre Grand Canyon National Park, which Roosevelt declared a national monument in 1908 -- 92 years ago Tuesday.

• Designated a 71,000-acre Agua Fria National Monument on public land north of Phoenix, Arizona, to protect prehistoric rock inscriptions and American Indian ruins.

• Announced a third national monument, California Coastal, covering thousands of small islands, rocks and reefs off the state's Pacific coast that serve as a habitat for wildlife such as sea otters and birds.

• Expanded the Pinnacles National Monument, south of San Jose, California, by 8,000 acres to better protect spire-like rock formations that rise up to 1,200 feet high.

Opponents blast president's 'unilateral' move

When the proposals were announced by Babbitt in December, Arizona Sen. John McCain, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, said Clinton had no right to make such a move "unilaterally."

Arizona officials have urged Clinton to include state residents in any such decision, while Republican lawmakers say Clinton is using his executive privilege to bypass the Republican-led Congress.

McCain, Arizona Gov. Jane Dee Hull and other Arizona lawmakers rebuked Clinton in a joint letter for creating the two national monuments in their state.

"We join in again requesting that you forgo unilateral federal action in declaring further monuments in Arizona, and instead work with us as we involve the people of Arizona in a preservation effort that allows the public a voice in the process," said the letter, dated January 7.

George Frampton, chairman of the president's Council on Environmental Quality, wrote back, saying there has been plenty of public input.

Babbitt and Interior Department officials have held more than 60 meetings on the proposed Arizona monuments, including two public hearings, Frampton wrote.

Sen. Frank Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has said Clinton should allow Congress to consider such moves, arguing the president should not use the Antiquities Act to unilaterally declare places national monuments.

Antiquities Act controversy

Murkowski said recently that he might consider legislation this year to require public input in situations that did not constitute an emergency.

A spokeswoman for the committee said the Antiquities Act, created to protect lands being ravaged, was not meant to be used the way Clinton was using it.

"When it was started back under Teddy Roosevelt, they were emergency powers. We've come a long way since then," she said. "These are already public lands ... If they feel they need further protection, why not at least bring it to Congress?"

As Babbitt made his recommendations last month, he noted that all presidents since Theodore Roosevelt, except Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George Bush, used their authority to protect federal lands under the Antiquities Act.

Other defenders of the Act also say it has helped preserve some of the country's national -- and natural -- treasures.

"The Statue of Liberty was protected through the Antiquities Act, (as were) Devil's Tower (National Monument in Wyoming) and Acadia (National Park in Maine)," said Tom Kieran of the National Parks Conservation Association.

Said White House spokesman Jake Siewert: "Congress has the power to overturn it, but they never have."

'I feel very sad and very helpless'

Residents of Fredonia, Arizona, which is near the proposed Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, fear federal restrictions associated with national monument status will replace their quiet lifestyle with a hectic, tourist economy.

"I thought we were going to have some input," said Fredonia Mayor Joy Jordan. "But things have not worked out that way at all. So I feel very sad and very helpless."

Observers say the situation represents a struggle between local governments -- which often serve residents by making use of natural resources -- and federal officials who want to serve all citizens by preserving those same resources.

"These two things are clashing as development is increasing," said Professor Sheldon Kamieniecki of the University of Southern California. "I think as we move into the century that question is going to be how do you balance the two?"

Just before the last presidential election in 1996, Clinton made a similar designation at the Grand Canyon and created the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah.

The move angered Utah lawmakers who said it would hurt the economy and block development of a key coal mine.

In the largest presidential designation of land, Jimmy Carter used the Antiquities Act in 1978 to set aside 56 million acres in Alaska. Much of that territory is now national park land.

11 January 2000

Minority Leaders Show Unified Front for Talks with Networks

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A coalition of minority leaders reported progress Tuesday in talks aimed at increasing diversity in network TV programming and behind the cameras.

"Colored people come in all colors," declared NAACP President Kweise Mfume, who came under criticism last week for leaving Hispanic representatives out of negotiations that led to an agreement with NBC.

Esteban Torres, the former congressman who is chairman of the National Latino Media Council, said it was agreed during a meeting Tuesday that Mfume, who also reached agreement with ABC, will continue to lead current talks with the networks.

Mfume, who was also joined by Asian-Pacific American and Native American leaders, said that in future negotiations he will share the job with "equal, rotating co-chairmen."

The head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said some talks were going better than others.

"Negotiations with Fox look promising, much more so than CBS looks now," Mfume said. "We think Fox has heard us loud and clear and has come forward with something better." He did not give specifics of how Fox planned to increase minority involvement in creative development and include more minorities in leading roles.

Mfume and other coalition members had meetings with NBC and CBS West Coast executives later Tuesday -- plus a Wednesday morning session with Fox executives.

"Have we made progress? Yes. Do we expect more, absolutely," Mfume said. "We have planted a seed in fertile soil."

The issue came to a boil in July when the NAACP and a coalition of Hispanic groups threatened to call a network boycott over the lack of minority representation on TV.

10 January 2000

New Dollar Coin Brings Scowls in Currency Paper Town

(Dalton, Massachusetts-AP) -- The new Sacagawea (SAK'-ah-jah-WEE'-ah) dollar coin makes its debut this week.

But it's a safe bet that people in Dalton, Massachusetts won't get excited about it. The town is home to Crane and Company, the sole supplier of U-S currency paper for more than 25 years.

Residents worry that the coins will someday replace paper bills -- which have fed the local economy since the company sold paper to Paul Revere.

But folks who are eager for one of the gold-tone coins shouldn't go to the bank to get it. The first Sacagawea coins are being distributed in Cheerios boxes.

The coin is the first to honor an American Indian woman.

7 January 2000

Clinton Poised to Create New Monument in Desert North of Grand Canyon

WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than 1,500 square miles of soaring, ruddy-hued cliffs, desert dotted with squat juniper and pinon trees and plunging, rocky canyons of intermittent streams that feed the Colorado River: That's the proposed Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument.

President Clinton is poised to give new federal protection Tuesday to this area and two others in Arizona and California, but Arizona officials are making a last-ditch plea to block Clinton's move.

"If the (Clinton) administration is interested in public participation, that process is under way. Please let that process work without usurping the public's opportunity to participate," said Lisa Atkins, chief of staff to Rep. Bob Stump, R-Ariz. Both proposed Arizona monuments are in Stump's district.

The land in question already belongs to the federal government. A monument designation would prohibit mining and could include other restrictions, such as limits on off-road vehicle use.

Clinton plans to make an "environmental announcement" at the Grand Canyon on Tuesday, said Elliot Diringer of the president's Council on Environmental Quality.

Although Diringer and White House spokesman Jim Kennedy would not say what the announcement would be, both supporters and opponents of the monument proposals said Friday they assumed Clinton would designate the monuments on his Arizona trip.

"By proclaiming these areas as monuments, Clinton is making sure these national treasures are protected not only now, but most importantly, for future generations," said Martos Hoffman of the Southwest Forest Alliance in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt recommended the three possible new monuments to Clinton last month. Other than Grand Canyon-Parashant, they are Agua Fria on 71,000 acres north of Phoenix dotted with American Indian ruins and California Coastal, consisting of hundreds of rocks and small islands up and down the state's Pacific coast.

Babbitt also suggested expanding the Pinnacles National Monument in California, south of San Jose.

Arizona Gov. Jane Hull, a Republican, and Arizona's seven GOP members of Congress wrote to Clinton on Friday urging him not to create the monuments.

Mrs. Hull "does not like dictates from Washington," said her press secretary, Francie Noyes. "She does not like unilateral decisions from the East Coast to Arizona. She also thinks that this particular designation, worthwhile though it may be, is being done for political purposes."

George Frampton, chairman of the president's Council on Environmental Quality, wrote back, saying there has been plenty of public input. Babbitt and Interior Department officials have held more than 60 meetings on the proposed Arizona monuments, including two public hearings, Frampton wrote.

The largest and most controversial of the proposed monuments, Grand Canyon-Parashant, covers 1 million acres north and west of Grand Canyon National Park and is nearly as large as the park itself.

"It's not a gentle landscape. It's a very angular landscape," said Geoff Barnard, president of the Grand Canyon Trust, a group supporting the monument. "It's a very hard landscape, but when the long light slants in the evening, it's spectacular."

Babbitt and environmentalists say the area is threatened by possible uranium mining or residential development. Opponents scoff, saying uranium mining isn't profitable these days and the area is too remote for development. The proposed monument is about 70 miles east of Las Vegas and 40 miles south of St. George, Utah.

"There's no immediate threat to the area that doesn't allow time to try to work out something that everyone can live with to maintain the character of the area as it is today," said Atkins, Rep. Stump's aide.

7 January 2000

Arizona Leaders Fear Clinton Plans to Create New National Monuments

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Environmentalists and Republican officials say they expect President Clinton to create three new national monuments, including one on more than 1,500 square miles of Arizona cliffs and canyons, when he visits the Grand Canyon on Tuesday.

Already, some officials are expressing concerns about the expected announcement because monument designation would result in a ban on mining and could mean restriction of other activities on the land.

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt last month recommended that Clinton create the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument north of the existing Grand Canyon National Park. Babbitt also recommended creating the Agua Fria monument on 71,000 acres dotted with American Indian ruins north of Phoenix and the California Coastal national monument, consisting of hundreds of rocks and small islands off the state's Pacific coast.

Babbitt also suggested expanding the Pinnacles National Monument in California.

White House officials confirmed Thursday that Clinton planned to make "an environmental announcement" while visiting the Grand Canyon, but refused to give more specifics. The White House invited Arizona Gov. Jane Hull to the ceremony but would not say what would happen there, said Scott Celley, an aide to Mrs. Hull.

Arizona officials and environmentalists said they expected that announcement to include creation of the three new monuments and expansion of the fourth.

"We could not be more pleased with the step we think (Clinton) is going to take," Wilderness Society President William Meadows told USA Today.

Still, Hull, a Republican, and Arizona's seven GOP members of Congress have opposed creating the new monuments. While all of the land in question is already owned by the federal government, national monument status would prohibit mining and could include restrictions on other activities such as off-road vehicle use.

Rep. Bob Stump, the Republican whose district includes the two proposed Arizona monuments, drafted a letter Thursday pleading with Clinton not to create the monuments, said chief of staff Lisa Atkins. Stump hopes to have Mrs. Hull and other Arizona lawmakers sign the letter and send it to Clinton today, Atkins said.

The draft letter asks Clinton "to refrain from this unilateral action and instead work with us to develop a solution reflecting the wishes of the people of Arizona."

Utah Republican Rep. Jim Hansen, who heads a House subcommittee overseeing parks and public lands, also said Thursday he expected Clinton to create the new monument north of the Grand Canyon. Hansen said many of the ranchers that graze cattle in the area live just across the state line in Utah, in Hansen's district.

"If anything, this designation is a step in the wrong direction and could hurt preservation of this land," Hansen said. "The president will be taking a piece of land that is remarkably well protected by its remoteness and turn it into an international tourist attraction."

Babbitt has said the Grand Canyon-Parashant area should gain greater protection because it contains a large part of the Grand Canyon's watershed and is a logical extension of the national park. He has said threats to the area include possible uranium mining or urban sprawl from cities miles away in Utah or Nevada.