03/11/10

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) _ Utah lawmakers have approved a $33 million
settlement in a dispute alleging Utah failed to properly manage an
oil-and-gas royalty trust set up by Congress to benefit Utah's
Navajo Indians.

The Senate on Wednesday approved House Joint Resolution 32. It
was already approved by the House.

The trust fund was created in 1933 to provide for Navajos living
in Utah's San Juan County.

The fund took in royalties from oil production on Navajo lands.
Utah was left in charge of managing disbursements and investments,
a responsibility it is trying to shift to the Navajo Nation.

Utah Navajos collected 37.5 percent of the royalty, with the
remaining 62.5 percent going to the tribe, headquartered at Window
Rock, Ariz.


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