March 6, 2007

Casino's chances aren't good

Feds say approval is unlikely

By Steve Schultze

A proposed casino in Kenosha got a second dose of bad news Tuesday with the release of a letter from federal officials warning that the odds against its approval have worsened

In the letter, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs tells the Menominee tribe that congressional concerns about "reservation shopping" are shared by the bureau.

The letter also states that the farther away a proposed casino site is from a tribe's traditional boundaries, the less likely it will be approved. The Menominee reservation is about 200 miles from the proposed $808 million casino site in Kenosha at Dairyland Greyhound Park. The Forest County Potawatomi tribe, operator of the state's largest casino, which is in Milwaukee, opposes the proposed Kenosha casino.

The Kenosha project also made the news last week when casino developer and Kenosha businessman Dennis Troha was indicted by a federal grand jury. He is accused of laundering campaign donations to Gov. Jim Doyle and lying about them.

Doyle has veto power over the plan if it gets federal approval.

Troha is selling his stake in the Kenosha project.

The letter from the Bureau of Indian Affairs was dated Feb. 13, three weeks before the Troha indictment. The letter makes no mention that Troha was under FBI investigation at the time.

The bureau letter warns the Menominee tribe that it expects continued congressional efforts to try to limit approval of more off-reservation casinos and says that review of such proposals will be done so that "we are able to justify to concerned congressional leaders any action the department may take to approve an off-reservation gaming application."

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is part of the U.S. Interior Department.

The letter was signed by James Cason, the Bureau of Indian Affairs' acting head. Carl Artman, a Wisconsin Oneida and the newly confirmed bureau leader, was expected to be sworn in soon.

Nedra Darling, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, said she did not expect that the strict off-reservation casino approach would change under Artman.

Nonetheless, Evan Zeppos, a spokesman for the Kenosha casino project, said he was confident it could meet the tougher federal standards.

"We always knew it was a long road," he said. "We always knew it was hard."

Zeppos said he thought the Menominee tribe's dire need for economic help should help offset federal concerns about the distance the casino would be from the tribe's reservation in northeastern Wisconsin.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs on Tuesday also released a similar letter it sent to two Chippewa tribes seeking approval for an off-reservation casino in Beloit.

Beloit casino spokesman Joe Hunt said that project's backers were aware of the federal concerns and "have worked very hard to make sure we were doing things in exactly the right way."

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