Detroit News: Feds Defend Casino Plan Rejections

From the Detroit News:

WASHINGTON — Indian tribes face long odds in winning federal approval for casinos hundreds of miles away from their reservations, the Bush administration told Congress on Wednesday.

In defending the decision to reject 22 such off-reservation casino applications around the country, officials further angered tribal leaders who told the House Resources Committee that the government is trying to force Indians to stay on reservations with high unemployment and few opportunities.

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St. Croix Chippewa Fee to Trust Litigation Update

St. Croix Band of Chippewa lost a motion for a preliminary injunction in their attempt to avoid the new off-reservation gaming rules [see here for Bryan Newland’s analysis of the new rules].

Here are the materials:

Motion for TRO or Preliminary Injunction

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St. Croix & Bad River Chippewa Trust Acquisition Lawsuit Materials

On December 7, 2007, the St Croix Tribe of Chippewa filed a suit against Dirk Kempthorne and Carl Artman. The Tribe has been working with the Bad River Chippewa and the City of Beloit (Wisconsin) to develop a casino in the city (which is not located within either Tribe’s reservation). The suit alleges that DOI has reversed its procedure of applying the two-step IGRA section 20 determination before the 25 CFR Part 151 determination. The Tribe claims that seeking the Part 151 determination first will be futile because of Secretary Kempthorne’s personal views on off-reservation gaming. The Tribes have already spent a great deal of time and money in developing the plan, meeting the requirements of the various applicable environmental laws, et cetera.

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St. Croix Chippewa Gaming & Trust Lands Suit

From Indianz [complaint and motion for TRO at the bottom of the post]:

Wisconsin tribe sues BIA over off-reservation gaming

Monday, December 10, 2007

A Wisconsin tribe sued the Bush administration on Friday, accusing two political appointees of changing the land-into-trust process to block off-reservation casinos.

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