Two Wisconsin Indian Tribes have filed an application for a Class III gaming facility with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) under the auspices of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).  That facility would be located in the City of Beloit, Rock County, Wisconsin and the application enjoys strong community support.  Recently, the Regional Director of the BIA in Fort Snelling, Minnesota reached a finding regarding that application and forwarded a positive recommendation to the BIA’s Central office in Washington, D.C.  The following brief history was prepared to provide decision makers and interested parties with an overview of the process, as well as respond to concerns expressed by competing Tribes.

City officials, a local developer, and representatives from the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians (Bad River Band) began discussions back in 1999 about the possibility of making application to the BIA to construct an off-reservation Class III gaming facility in the City of Beloit.  The St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin (St. Croix Tribe) later joined with the Bad River Band and they prepared a joint application.  The process is complex, extensive in scope, and expensive.   After six years of preparation, review and revision, the Regional Director in Fort Snelling, MN recently submitted a finding including a positive recommendation for approval.

The Tribal application includes a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that has undergone years of analysis and a local public hearing.  Three separate archeological surveys have been completed on this site, all of which concur that there are no Indian cultural resources located there.  The Tribes have also prepared detailed supplemental studies documenting their historical and aboriginal ties to southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois lands, including the proposed casino site.  Further, both Tribes have a demonstrated economic need to create revenue to support and improve the quality of life for Tribal members.  This economic need, combined with strong technical merits, fulfills the standards set by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) and has resulted in the positive recommendation from the Regional office.

This Tribal gaming application enjoys very strong local support from the Greater Beloit area.  Local elected officials view the facility as a major economic development and job creation catalyst for the Stateline area, which has lost thousands of old-line industrial jobs over the last decade.  The issue was submitted to a referendum on November 7, 2000 and over 61% of residents voting agreed to support the application effort.  Every Beloit City Council since 2000 has unanimously adopted a resolution of support for the application.  The City of South Beloit, the Town of Beloit, the Town of Turtle, and the Rock County Board have also passed resolutions of support for the project.  This strong level of host community support makes the Beloit project an excellent candidate to be the next off-reservation facility approved by the BIA.  Concurrence by the Governor would result in at least  $200,000,000 of new construction in the Stateline area, creating 1,500 construction jobs.  Once in operation, the casino would employ 3,000 Tribal and area residents and spend millions annually in contracts for services, supplies and materials which would likely extend its economic benefit beyond the Stateline area, particularly to other regional economic centers like Rockford, Illinois and Madison, Wisconsin.  

The Ho-Chunk Nation, which operates numerous gaming facilities in various locations around the State of Wisconsin, including a large casino near the Dells, has worked diligently for years to block the Beloit casino application.  It has been unsuccessful in doing so.  A recent press release indicates that these efforts will continue, despite the positive finding by the Regional BIA office. 

Opposition has come primarily from the Ho-Chunk Nation and, to a lesser extent, from the Forest County Potawatomi tribe.  Both already operate gaming facilities.  These Tribes have articulated no similar objections to Native American gaming facilities when their own economic interests benefited from the construction and operation of those casinos. 

It is both understandable, and at the same time reassuring, that these two Tribes operating Class III gaming facilities in Wisconsin are objecting to the Beloit project.  It is understandable, because they are attempting to minimize competition in the marketplace to protect their current dominant business position.  The opposition is also somewhat reassuring because it means they view this application as strong on its merits and that the facility will likely be successful. 

To date, the application has been judged on its merits and we commend the BIA for not allowing competing gaming interests to thwart the process for their own narrow self interests.

Areas in Wisconsin (and Illinois) were shared by many Tribes.  The area east of the Rock River, where the casino will be located, was recognized as territory of the “United Tribes” namely the Ottawa, Chippewa and Potawatomi.  Chippewa Chiefs were signatories to various treaties affecting these lands, including the Treaty of 1833 between the United States and the Chippewa, Ottawa and the Potawatomi Nations relinquishing occupancy of 5,000,000 acres of territory located east of the Rock River in Wisconsin and Illinois, which includes the proposed casino site.  Several historical studies have been completed regarding these historic ties to the land in southern Wisconsin.  They are included in the EIS, which is part of the application process and available in the public record.

The Ho-Chunk Nation’s claims of ancestral ties have absolutely no relevance to the statutes controlling the determinations which must by made by the BIA.  Historic or aboriginal ties are not factors appearing in the evaluation criteria established by IGRA.  They are not germane to the National Historic Preservation Act whose purpose is to identify properties eligible for the National Register.  Those standards relate to specific sites or buildings - - not regions.

No Indian Tribe has had any occupancy of land in this area since the 1833 Treaty.  The site on which the proposed casino will be located has been used as farm land for some 150 years and received thorough scrutiny, during the study process.   

It must also be remembered that few Indian Tribes anywhere in the nation occupy lands that were traditional and ancestral to the Tribe.  Virtually all ceded their land to the United States and were relocated onto reservations, often in remote locations away from growth and development patterns as they existed in the 19th century.  

First of all, no approved application sets precedent, since each is carefully analyzed and scrutinized on its individual merits.  As noted above, the Beloit application has been in various stages of preparation and review for over six years.  In fact, only three off-site gaming facilities have been approved in the entire United States.  The market realities of operating gaming facilities combined with the arduous application/ evaluation process mitigate against the approval of significant off-reservation gaming facilities, either here in Wisconsin or elsewhere in the United States. 

• This application is very strong on its merits, fulfilling not only the letter but also the spirit of the IGRA.  The BIA staff has referred to the Beloit Casino application as being a “textbook example” of Congress’s intent when IGRA was approved.
• The site is located within the State of Wisconsin.  Tribes making the application also reside within our state boundaries and have demonstrated historic ties to the area.
• This project enjoys unprecedented support from the host community.  It received a 61% affirmative vote in a local referendum; subsequent City Councils, as well as other governing boards, have continued to express strong support for this project.
• The economic needs of the host community, combined with that of the Tribes, makes this project an imperative.  The City of Beloit has lost thousands of old line industrial jobs over the past two decades and still has an unemployment rate well in excess of the average for the State of Wisconsin.  Jobs for Beloit residents and Tribal members would substantially expand economic opportunities for both the Tribes and the host community. 
• There is simply no reason to reject this application.  The strong host community support, combined with the technical merits of the application, fully conform to the standards set by IGRA.  There is absolutely no reason why this application should not continue to be favorably judged on its merits and approved as expeditiously as possible.