The St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin filed a COMPLAINT FOR DECLATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF today in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The Complaint concerns the Tribe’s Beloit, Wisconsin Trust Land Application with the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and asks the Court to prevent specified procedural changes by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the trust land approval process as specified by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA Section 2719(b)(1)(A).

The Complaint states that during both the Clinton Administration and the Bush Administration, that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has adhered to certain documented off reservation trust land application approval procedures whereby the two part determination was always the first to be made followed (if the Governor concurred) by the fee to trust decision. The two part determination is: (1) is the project in the best interest of an applicant Tribe and; (2) is the project detrimental to the surrounding community? In the changed procedure, by making the fee to trust application first, it is easier for the Bureau to deny an off-reservation application. This suit states that the BIA has unlawfully reversed this part of the approval process and that this change in the procedure is arbitrary and capricious, violates the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution, that the BIA is acting in excess of the Agency’s statutory jurisdiction, a violation of the Agency’s trust responsibilities to the Tribe, and contrary to Congressional intent.

The St. Croix Tribe further contends that Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne’s negative personal views toward off-reservation gaming have led the BIA to create a device making the fee to trust decision first so that it can plausibly proceed to deny a number of pending off-reservation casino applications, including Beloit. The negative personal views of Secretary Kempthorne were also the subject of the recent St. Regis Mohawk Tribe v. Dirk Kempthorne (Civil Action no.07-CV-01958-RWR).

“For over six years we have followed the rules and done everything required of us by the Bureau”, explained Hazel Hindsley, Tribal Chair Person of the St. Croix. “For Secretary Kempthorne and Asst. Secretary Artman to change the rules at this late date in the approval process is not only unfair, it is illegal.”

The Beloit Casino Project was originally the idea of the City of Beloit. The Chippewa were invited to Beloit in 1999. Both the City and the Tribes were in need of economic development. In a 2000 referendum 61% of Beloit voters supported entering into a casino agreement with the Bad River and St. Croix Tribes. In 2001 the Tribes jointly filed an application with the BIA Regional office to take 26 acres of land into trust. The Beloit Casino Project has been supported unanimously by successive Beloit City Councils. Rock County, where Beloit resides, has also supported the Project.

Throughout the process of seeking approval from the BIA, the Tribes have incurred significant expense without the financial assistance of an outside developer/promoter. The Tribes have taken inordinate measures to ensure that they are fully complying with all of the BIA’s exacting requirements for the approval of the Beloit Casino Project, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the National Historic Preservation Act. This included the preparation of a costly Environmental Assessment (EA). After the completion of the EA, the Tribes were informed by the Department of Justice that it would require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) be prepared for all off-reservation casino applications. (Otherwise, the Department of Justice indicated that it would not defend any lawsuit brought to challenge a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) issued by the BIA based on an EA.). That required the Tribes to start again with the required scoping process and took an additional three years of time, effort, and expense. In January of 2007 the Tribes’ application was forwarded with a favorable recommendation to the Central Office. The Tribes were informed several weeks ago that the EIS had been approved by the Solicitor’s Office of the BIA.

We anticipate that the Court will move speedily on the issuing of a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction.

All project related inquiries should be routed through the Beloit Casino Project Information Offices, 421 East Grand Avenue, Beloit, WI, 53511. Additional information on the Casino Project, including the lawsuit, can be found at www.beloitcasinoproject.com.