The Menominee Nation of Wisconsin isn't covered by an off-reservation gaming memo from Interior
Secretary Ken Salazar, an attorney for the tribe said.
The tribe plans to build an off-reservation casino in Kenosha. The Bureau of Indian Affairs rejected the land-into-trust
application in the final days of the Bush administration.
The tribe has filed a lawsuit to overturn the decision. But the tribe apparently hasn't resubmitted its land-into-trust application so it won't be affected by Salazar's call to move forward on pending applications. Salazar also didn't set out any new policy that would rescind the Bush-era decisions.
"The path for, say, Menominee, is to see if there’s been a change in path, as far as settling these lawsuits," attorney John Wilhelmi told The Kenosha News.
The Kenosha casino has strong local support.
Get the Story:Menominee still investing in casino (The Kenosha News 6/30) Relevant Documents:
Secretary Salazar Memo on Gaming Land Applications | Press Release: Interior Details Path Forward on Indian Gaming Policy BIA Letter:
George Skibine to Menominee Nation (January 7, 2009) Off-Reservation Gaming Policy:
Guidance on taking off-reservation land into trust for gaming purposes (January 3, 2008) Related Stories:
Salazar tells BIA to continue work on gaming land applications (6/28)
Unions seek investigation into rejection of Menominee casino (6/17)
Menominee Nation casino documents provided to rival tribe (6/10)