The mayor of Fall River, Massachusetts, is urging the Interior Department to approve the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe land-into-trust application.

The tribe wants to build a casino on a 300-acre site in the city. Mayor Will Flanagan said the project is important to the area.

"Development of that land that the tribe is seeking to have placed in trust will provide the good jobs that are so desperately needed in this area. In addition, revenue that will be provided to the city through an intergovernmental agreement will allow us to fund the public safety, education and infrastructure projects that are so important to the health of this city and the surrounding region," Flanagan wrote in a letter to Secretary Ken Salazar, The Fall River Herald News reported.

The tribe started the land-into-trust process in August 2007. In February 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Carcieri v. Salazar.

The decision limits the land-into-trust process to tribes that were "under federal jurisdiction" in 1934. The Mashpees didn't gain formal recognition until May 2007 but the Obama administration is moving forward with all pending applications.

Get the Story:
Mayor urges Interior Dept. to take proposed casino land into Indian trust (The Fall River Herald News 8/30)

Relevant Documents:
Secretary Salazar Memo on Gaming Land Applications | Press Release: Interior Details Path Forward on Indian Gaming Policy

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