Editorial: Finally, a settlement in Utah Navajo trust fund dispute

Opinion | Trust

Friday, July 2, 2010

"The state’s management of the Utah Navajo Trust Fund is one of the longer-running scandals in these parts. The approval of a $33 million settlement by a federal court is welcome because it should write an end to this sorry affair and bring benefits to the tribe sooner than if the case continued to grind on.

We have followed this issue since a legislative audit exposed the mess in 1991. We concluded at the time that state officials and members of the tribe shared blame for mismanagement and fraud, but there was never a real question that the state had failed its responsibility as trustee for the Navajo people of San Juan County.

The story begins nearly 80 years ago. Congress created the trust fund in 1933. It receives 37.5 percent of oil and gas royalties from Utah Navajo Reservation lands. The remaining portion of those royalties goes to the Navajo Nation’s tribal government in Window Rock, Ariz. Oil from the Aneth field in Utah has been the primary source of revenues.

When it created the fund, Congress designated Utah as the trustee. The state withdrew as trustee in 1998. However, members of the tribe filed a lawsuit to recover losses to the fund that occurred between the mid-1950s and 1992, during the time the state acted as trustee.

Over the years, the fund has done much good for the Navajo people, providing housing, health care and education, though economic conditions on the reservation remain bleak."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Navajo trust fund (The Salt Lake Tribune 7/2)