"A federal appeals court [Tuesday] upheld a landmark $3.4 billion settlement concerning the Interior Department's mismanagement of American Indian trust accounts."

"The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected two separate objections to the settlement, which arose from a class-action lawsuit originally filed in 1996.

The settlement in Cobell v. Salazar has already been approved by Congress, President Obama and a federal district court judge.

The agreement included $1.5 billion in compensation to settle charges that Interior mismanaged the trust assets of American Indians. It also provided $1.9 billion for the voluntary buyback and consolidation of fractionated lands."

Lawrence Hurley reports for Greenwire May 22, 2012.
[2]