Cobell vs. Salazar, a major class action case related to trust lands, was settled in December 2009. The suit was filed against the U.S.Department of Interior, of which the BIA is a part. A major responsibility has been the management of the Indian trust accounts. This was a class-action lawsuit regarding the federal government's management and accounting of more than 300,000 individual American Indian and Alaska Native trust accounts. A settlement fund totaling $3.4billion is to be distributed to class members. This is to compensate for claims that prior U.S.officials had mismanaged the administration of Indian trust assets. In addition, the settlement establishes a $2billion fund enabling federally recognized tribes to voluntarily buy back and consolidate fractionated land interests.