BIA Director to talk to Osage about Mineral Estate
Chief Standing Bear invited the director to update the Osage people about issues regarding the Osage Mineral Estate
By ON Communications
TULSA, Okla. (August 25, 2015) —Mike Black, Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), is scheduled to visit the Osage Nation for a formal presentation on Sept. 9 in Pawhuska, Okla. Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear invited the director to the Osage Reservation following a federal court decision to temporarily halt new oil and gas rules and to address concerns over declining oil and gas production.
Black is scheduled to discuss several issues related to the Osage Mineral Estate but will not be discussing any matters which are in litigation.
Chief Standing Bear has asked the director to clarify the differences between the several important issues affecting the Nation's mineral estate. Black will address the preparation of the new Environmental Impact Statement, the permitting slow-down for oil and gas production and the prospect for completion of the federal environmental requirements and projections for growth at the Osage Indian Agency.
According to the BIA website, "Michael Black was named the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs on April 26, 2010. Prior to that, he was the Regional Director for the BIA’s Great Plains Regional Office in Aberdeen, South Dakota, which oversees 12 agencies that together serve 16 federally recognized tribes in three states." Black is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota.
The meeting will be at the Pawhuska Business Development Center at 1225 Virginia Short Street, in Bay B, on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 11 a.m. and is open to the public. For those unable to attend the meeting it will be broadcast in real time on the Nation's website at http://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/multimedia/live-media.
For Media Inquiries: Osage Nation Communications 918-287-5599