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Show ut <P Mountainwest Minority Reporter & Sentinel, April 19, 1991 E I NCEE CES REE EEE REASSSST ES _ Utah Navajos seek their share from nation by Carol Sisco _Tribune Social Issues Writer “The question of whether Utah -Navajos are entitled to a 37.5 percent portion of the gross proceeds receiv-ed by the Navajo Nation under mineral agreements has resulted in a federal administrative appeal. Directly involved parties include the _ state Division of Indian Affairs, on behalf of Utah Navajos, and the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. A Texas oil company has been drawn into the squabble and has indicated it in- tends to intervene in the proceedings. The Navajo Nation in Arizona also has asked to become a party to the proceedings, Assistant Attorney General Paula Smith said. The issue is complex, but at the 37.5 percent of the proceeds currently being received by the Navajo Nation under its operating agreements should be paid to Utah as trustee of a special fund that benefits Utah Navajos. ‘“However, at present, there is not such a like requirement on amounts earned from oil and gas produced on the Aneth Extension pursuant to an operating agreement,’’ Chuska said in a prepared statement. The claim is based upon a 1933 federal act that requires 37.5 percent of net royalties accruing from tribal leases in the Aneth area to be allocated to the state of Utah, according to state Division of Indian affairs director John Powless. The Navajo Nation, headquartered epicenter is a long-standing squabble in Window Rock, Arizona, has apbetween the Utah. and Arizona bran- proximately 217,000 members, mainches of the Navajo tribe over the ly in Arizona and New Mexico. The former branch’s feeling that they have Utah contingent includes about 6,000 been ignored financially and people in San Juan County. politically. The division acts as the trustee for The question, according to the ap- ‘Utah Navajos, Mr. Powless said. peal filed by the Utah Attorney ‘‘BIA made the decision that General with the Interior Board of In- Chuska did not have to pay it, that dian Appeals,is whether Utah Navanobody did, not even the Arizona jos are entitled to a 37.5 percent slice Navajos,’’ Mr. Powless said Wednesof oil and gas payments whenever day. ‘“That means the Navajos in San drilling occurs on Utah’s Aneth exten- Juan County are left holding the bag _. sion in San Juan County. and there’s nothing in it.”’ The state is appealing a BIA deci“The dispute is not over whether _ sion that ‘‘disallowed any payments to Chuska owes additional money. It is San Juan County, Utah Navajos in over whether the Navajo Nation or connection with Chuska Energy Com- ' Utah controls a specific portion of the pany’s oil and gas production within revenues received be the Navajo Nathe Aneth Extension oil field,”’ the ap- tion,’’ said Chuska attorney Jeffrey R. _.,. peal states. Akins. Chuska Energy Company of San Chuska’s operating agreement was Antonio, Texas, states the dispute is struck under the 1982 Indian Mineral between the state and the Navajo Development Act, said Philip Lear, a Nation. Salt Lake attorney representing _ , Chuska, which conducts oil and gas Chuska. producing activities on the Navajo Chuska also said that a much higher Reservation under unique congres- percentage of the revenues generated ee authorized operating by its oil and gas producing activities blib 3Ui 2G J bb AIW SRO & PALS » IO INSIIGG SVSn ofariot that even if Utah prevails, the total amount of Chuska’s obligation would not change. While the Arizona Navajos may be compensated, Mr. Powless said Utah Navajos are left out even though the oil is taken from their land. ‘‘We want what we feel those people are entitled to, that their beneficial interest is recognized either by Chuska or the tribe,’’ he said. ‘‘Under which Washington Post Washington —' Because they can’t, or don’t want to, Americans are bor- rowing less money. - As a result, the‘engine that powered the lifestyles and much of the economic growth of the 1980s — consumer credit — is sputtering. As recession or economic slowdown hit almost all parts of the country, banks and other lenders are canceling credit cards, denying auto loans, refusing to refinance mortgages, and in general taking a hardnosed approach to loan applications. Moreover, a growing number of consumers, frightened by the reces- gion and increasingly concerned about their ability to cope with future expenses, are shying away from new debt. They are holding off on using credit to purchase big ticket items like appliances, putting off buying cars, and simply waiting until they have the cash to make a purchase, according to financial planners, economists, and others who watch consumer behavior. ‘“‘People are not interested in borrowing money,’’ said Elissa Buie of Capitol Financial Consultants Inc., a financial planning firm in Vienna, Va. ‘“We have a convergence of factors here leading to a great reluctance to borrow, which is almost symmetrical with the unwillingness of lenders to lend,’’ said A. Gary Shilling, who heads an economics consulting firm in Springfield, N.J. The combined national impact became evident Thursday with a report by the Federal Reserve that ‘consumer installment credit fell by $2.44 billion in January, following a $340 million drop in December for the first back-to-back decline in four years and a figure that underscores the take agreements, several different develop the minerals,’’ the company said in its statement. ‘“The oil companies then receive a percentage of the proceeds from minerals produced as their compensation and the tribes receive the re- mainder. Under a lease, royalty payments are made to the tribes. Often times mineral agreements are more financially advantageous to the tribes than leases.”’ Utah’s appeal asks the Board of Indian Appeals to reverse the BIA decision, which found that the proceeds weren’t subject to the 1933 act. ‘‘The Interior Board of Indian Appeals should also determine that 37.5 percent of all royalties or other such: payments made by Chuska Energy Company, or a sum equal to 37.5 percent of royalties, in connection with Chuska Energy Company’s operations on the Aneth Extension be paid to the state of Utah for the benefit of San Juan County Navajos in accordance with the 1933 act as amended,’’ the appeal states. ae | ‘DRUG-ABUSE. IS... LIFE ABUSE panies with the standard lease, adding Americans are minerals may the oil companies provide the technical expertise and equipment to esto Utah has filed documents claiming don’t forms, the tribes provide the lands and ements with. the Arizona-Dased* 1s paid to the ‘Navajo tribe ‘than-is “J .,._,, Navajo Nation, acknowlédges “that” “typically paid as royalties by oil com- on ‘“We care which one.”’ Chuska owns drilling concessions on the Utah portion of the Navajo Indian Reservation in San Juan County, according to their statement. orrowing less money original mortgage. Several economists cautioned that it is too early to tell whether the consumer credit shifts are a temporary phenomena born of the recession and borrow even the amount continuing recession. the Persian Gulf War, but others noted lenders do not have the cushion they once did to ease the costs of a foreclosure. “‘People are having a harder time qualifying (for a loan) these days,’’ said Herbert B. Tasker of All Pacific Mortgage Co. of Con- that simple demographics suggest that the change may be real, as baby boomers go from the household formation state of their lives to childrearing and retirement planning. In any case, financial planners say change is plainly visible in consumer psychology, despite the end of the Gulf war, and many lenders freely concede that it is now embedded in theirs. As a result, some people who could borrow will not, while others who want to cannot. Among consumers, several planners said, there is a shift of focus from the present to the future. ‘‘The trend I have seen is people becoming more credit conscious. They have realized that someday they are going to have to retire, to put the kids through school, maybe take care of parents in nursing homes,”’ said Kelly Graves of Carroll Financial Associates, a financial planning firm in Charlotte, N.C. ‘‘The people I’m seeing are ... doing a better job of cleaning up their credit picture,’ he said. Others are having their credit cleaned up for them: e Automobile dealers report that some 40 percent of applications are rejected, compared with 10 to 15 percent in earlier times. : e Many homeowners, especially in the northeastern part of the country, cannot refinance their houses. Not only is there no equity to take out, but the house may have lost so much value that the owner can no longer of the e Mortgage lenders are looking harder at prospective borrowers. With property values no longer steadily rising, cord, California. e Banks, while continuing to flood mails with credit card solicitation, also combing through the records existing card holders and cancelor cutting back credit to those who not meet tougher new criteria. Experts who expect the decline in use of consumer credit to continue into the 1990s say it presents a good newsbad news situation for the economy. The good news is. that increased saving and reduced debt will improve the nation’s ability to compete internationally; the bad news is that consumer spending may do less to help pull the economy out of recession than might otherwise have been respected. The sheer size of consumer credit gives it its weight in the economy. The total figure for Janury was $736 ‘the are of ing do billion, down December. from $739 billion in The 17 radio stations, one televi- Cal sion station and five daily newspapers in lraq are all governmentoperated. AT SENATE HEARING—Key participants in a U. S. Senate hearing on the plight and crisis facing young Black males in America were Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, of Virginia, Senator Donald W. Riegle (D. Mich), Dr. Dorothy Height, president, National Council of Negro Women, and Senator Terry Sanford (D.N.C.) The hearing was conducted by the Senate Banking, ! Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, chaired by Sen. Riegle. A national conference on Black males is planned for Washington, D.C. on May 22-24. Senate holds hearing on young biack males With thousands of black soldiers returning from war in the Persian | Gulf, a U.S. Senate Committee shifted national focus to the ‘“‘tragic plight and alarming crisis’ facing young black males in American urban cities. The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee invited a number of black policy initiatives and approaches for solving the complex problem affecting young black males in this country. Committee chairman Senator Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (D. Mich.) said, in convening the roundtable hearing, ““Young black men today face problems that stack the odds against them. We cannot stand by while so many Americans fall behind. Our challenge is to work together to find solutions.’’ Wilder said, ‘‘It is imperative that we redouble our efforts to provide our young people with the knowledge and the access to opportunities that they so desperately need to break free from the vicious cycle of drugs, drop-outs, unemployment, teen pregnancy, and violent crime.”’ ae Wilder announced the establishment of a bipartisan 21st Century Commis- sion on African-American Males, of which he is a co-chairperson along — with Mayor David Dinkins, of New York City; Dr. Dorothy Height, _ president, National Council of Negro Women; John Jacob, president; Na- tional Urban League; Arthur Fletcher, chairman, U.S. Civil Rights Commission; and Senator Terry Sanford (D-NC). : The commission will host a Na- L. tional Conference on. the’ Status of Douglas Wilder, of Virginia, said, ‘‘It African-American males on May 22 is ironic that a great many of the same men and women who served this nation so valiantly in our efforts to free Kuwait ... will be returning to this country only to be caught in the cross- to 24 in Washington, D.C. at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. Sek Those interested in obtaining information on the 21st Century Commis- fire of another war, one which rages, even as I speak, in streets across this nation. It’s a war in which all too often black Americans are victimizing an killing one another.”’ ) Washington, D.C. office of the commission at: 3704 Huntington Street, Ks ~ -As=the-lead<off-witness, Gov. sion on African Males can contact the NW, D.C. 686-2891. 20015, or call (202 : |
