IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ELOUISE PEPION COBELL, et al., ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) v. ) Case No. 1:96cv01285(JR) ) KEN SALAZAR, Secretary of the Interior, ) et al., ) ) Defendants. ) __________________________________________) NOTICE OF FILING OF JANUARY 2009 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 January 2009. A copy of the report is attached hereto. Dated: February 13, 2009 Respectfully submitted, MICHAEL F. HERTZ Deputy Assistant Attorney General J. CHRISTOPHER KOHN Director /s/ Robert E. Kirschman, Jr. ROBERT E. KIRSCHMAN, JR. Deputy Director (D.C. Bar No. 406635) JOHN R. KRESSE Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division P.O. Box 875, Ben Franklin Station Washington, D.C. 20044-0875 Telephone: (202) 616-0328 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that, on February 13, 2009 the foregoing Notice of Filing of January 2009 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 ACTIVITY REPORT OFFICE OF TRUST RECORDS January 1 - 31, 2009 PROGRAMMATIC: • Labat-Anderson (Labat Indexing Project) Labat reported that indexing of 572 boxes of inactive Indian records was completed in January 2009. The total number of boxes completed through January 2009 is approximately 186,300. OTR is expected to terminate its contractor relationship with Labat on March 31, 2009. OTR is hiring staff to continue indexing records after the contract is terminated. • Movement of Records The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Office of the Special Trustee (OST) moved 850 boxes of inactive records from various field locations to Lenexa, Kansas, for indexing and subsequent storage at the American Indian Records Repository (AIRR) during this reporting period. • Site Assessments Statement During the month of January, OTRA performed two follow-up records assessments, one each at the following locations: Colorado River Agency BIA office and Colorado River OST IIM field office. OTRA issued two records management assessment reports, one each at the following locations: Papago Agency BIA office and Papago OST IIM field office. • Records Training In January 2009, OTR provided records management training for 5 BIA/OST records contacts and 4 Tribal employees. OTR did not provide training on vital records this reporting period. • Discovery of Additional Document Damage and Need for Remediation On July 23, 2008, an attorney from the Office of the Solicitor and a representative from the BIA, Navajo Regional Office, discovered documents which appeared to have sustained water damage in two outlying buildings close to the Chinle Agency. A report addressing the situation was filed with the United States Court of Federal Claims in the Navajo Nation v. United States litigation. A supplementary report was filed with that court on October 7, 2008. As reported last month, on November 11, 2008, the Government filed an unopposed motion to move and remediate the records which the court granted on November 13. On 1