IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ________________________________________ ELOUISE PEPION COBELL et al., Plaintiffs, v. ) ) ) ) ) ) GALE NORTON, Secretary of the Interior, et al., ) Defendants. ) ) ________________________________________ ) NOTICE OF FILING OF NOVEMBER 2004 STATUS REPORT BY THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFICE OF TRUST RECORDS The Department of the Interior Office of Trust Records hereby submits its status report for activity in November 2004. A copy of the report is attached hereto. Dated: December 15, 2004 Case No. 1:96CV10285 (Judge Lamberth) Respectfully submitted, ROBERT D. McCALLUM, JR. Associate Attorney General PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General STUART E. SCHIFFER Deputy Assistant Attorney General J. CHRISTOPHER KOHN Director /s/ Sandra P. Spooner SANDRA P. SPOONER Deputy Director D.C. Bar No. 261495 JOHN T. STEMPLEWICZ Senior Trial Counsel Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division P.O. Box 875 Ben Franklin Station Washington, D.C. 20044-0875 (202) 514-3368 (phone) (202) 514-9163 (fax) 2 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that, on December 15, 2004 the foregoing Notice of Filing of November 2004 Status Report by the Department of the Interior Office of Trust Records was served by Electronic Case Filing, and on the following who is not registered for Electronic Case Filing, by facsimile: Earl Old Person (Pro se) Blackfeet Tribe P.O. Box 850 Browning, MT 59417 Fax (406) 338-7530 /s/ Kevin P. Kingston Kevin P. Kingston D8c-i 5-2004 1 1 :44am From- 1-804 P 002/004 F-540 November 1 - 30,2004 : PROG-TIC Labat-Anderson (Labat) Indexing Project Labat reported that 3,559 boxes of inactive Indian records were completed in November. The total number of boxes completed through November 2004 is 93,995. The total number ofboxes completed through October was incorrectly reported last month as 90,45 1 rather than the m a 1 number of 90,436. In November, Albuquerque Labat personnel began shifting staff to image documents identified by tribal attorneys and contractors for the tribal trust litigation cases. The indexing project in Albuquerque is nearing completion. OTR and Labat staff began assisting the Southern Plains Regional Office and the Anadarko Agency in preparing inactive records for retirement to the American lndian Records Repository. Approximately 1,200 cubic feet of records will be shipped from the reponal and agency offices. It is anticipated that the project will conclude in January 2005. 0 Movement of Records OTR moved 3,225 boxes of records from Albuquerque storage facilities to Lenexa, Kansas. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) moved 236 boxes of inactive records and the Office of the Special Trustee (OST) moved 1,302 boxes of inactive records to Lenexa for indexing and storage. Boxes Requiring Preservation and /or Remediation Carino Conservation completed the assessment of boxes locared at the 12Ih Street warehouse. A total of 2S3 boxes were assessed. The number ofboxes increased from 269 as a result of additional boxes being identified during the indexing process by Labar. and OTR in Albuquerque. It is anticipated that recommendations for remediation will be received from thls contractor in December. Bureau of Indian Affairs Records As reported last month, a water leak at the Crow Agency in Montana caused some files to get wet. The Rocky hlounrain Regional Direcror’s Office has provided me with a statement that the documents affected were copies. ACTIVITY REPORT OFFICE OF TRUST RECORDS 1 1-804 P 003/004 F-540 Dec-15-2004 1 1 :45am From- Individual Files Requiring Preservation Analysis of data contained in the Box Index Search System (BISS) identified approximately 7,500 files out of2,713,000 files (0.25 percent) that contain one or more documents that may be ar risk due to age of the document, over usage, or other conditions. OTR will work wirh the National Archives and Records Admbslration to initiate steps necessary to rernediate these documents. This Will be a long term project as documents are identified in the BISS. Sire Assessments OTR conducted six records management program assessments ar the following B U agencies: Okmulgee Agency, Talihina Agency, Osage Agency, Chickasaw Agency, Wewoka Agency and Miami Agency. The OST field office at Osage Agency was also assessed. These assessments were conducted In conjunction with the Office of Trust Review and Audit (OTRA). OTR assisted OTRA with assessments of tribal records management programs at the Creek Nation, Choctaw Xaiion, Chickasaw Tribe, Osage Tribe and Wyandotte Tribe. Written reports are being drafted. Records Training OTR conducted records management training for Labat employees assisting OTR to bring in the backlog of records from BIA and OST field Iocations. OTR also conducted records management training for attorneys recently hired by the Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division, in order to familiarize them with the BIA and OST records management programs. Equipment No filing equipment was purchased or provided in November. 11 is anticipated that ordered equipment will be delivered to BL4 and OST locations in December. Litigarion Support OTR continued to provide support in research of records for tribal trust Iirigation cases including: Jicarilla Apache, Lagma, Blackfeet, Osage and Warm Springs. OTR continued to provide support to the Office of Historical Trust Accounting and to BIA and OST offices. Records Evaluation - Accession #MOO-03-8001 As reported last monrh, 3 1 boxes in Accession #MOO-03-8001 continue to be retained by the Office of Trust Records (OTR). During this reporting period, rhey were moved by OTR staff from the 12* Street warehouse to a research room In the mafn OTR facility so that they can be reviewed by the Office of the Special 2 From- 1-804 P 004/004 F-540 Trustee (OST) to determine whether some of their contents might be federalltrust records or wherher they had been properly marked, originally, as non-record duplicates. Ths review is ongoing. Dec-15-2004 1 1 :45am ADMINISTRATIVE: OTR managers continued making adjustments to the Fiscal Year 2005 budget GEXERAL OBSERVATIONS: OTR records operations staff conrinued to struggle to meet the demands placed on them by attorneys and tribal and federal researchers for boxes and to continue ro meet OTR program requirements. I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information and belief. 3