Despite rejection, Sen. Schumer wants an off-reservation casino

Friday, March 4, 2011

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) still an off-reservation casino in the Catskills even after the Bureau of Indian Affairs rejected a deal for the Stockbridge Munsee Band of Mohican Indians.

Schumer supported the Stockbridge Munsee project. “The Catskills deserve a casino, want a casino and we are going to look at every possible way to try to bring one here,” he told MidHudsonNews.com.

In a February 18 letter, the BIA rejected the compact because it limited the tribe's use of land in the Catskills to "gaming purposes." The agency said the provision violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

"The purpose of IGRA is to foster economic development opportunities for tribes, and does not limit or restrict the use of Indian lands should a tribe later determine that a different use is desirable," Del Laverdure, the principal deputy assistant secretary at the BIA, wrote in the letter.

Laverdure also said the BIA has "outstanding questions" about a land claim settlement that the tribe signed with the state although that wasn't used as a basis to reject the compact.

Get the Story:
Schumer isn’t letting up effort to bring casino to Catskills (MidHudsonNews.com 3/3)
Where does BIA rejection leave Madison County? (The Oneida Dispatch 3/3)
Mark Izeman’s Blog: Is a Catskill casino still in the cards? (NRDC Blog 3/3)