The Star Lake Concerned Citizens’ Group, the White Earth Nation and even factions within the tribe are facing off over its proposed casino on Star Lake in Otter Tail County, Minnesota.
“The tribe has applied to the Army Corps of Engineers for dredging a wetland in order to build a casino where they want,” said Otter Tail County Commissioner Wayne Johnson. He added the tribe has applied for a permit to build a parking lot within the county’s jurisdiction. The Otter Tail County board still is waiting for a completed worksheet listing all the details about the project. Following that, a state environmental quality board will review the project and hold public hearings.
Bill Marsh, chief executive of the tribe’s existing Shooting Star Casino said, “We’ve taken on the position to build this to have a resort feel to it so that we can blend in with the other resorts that are in that area. When there’s more funding available for the tribe, then that money can be put back into programs to help people that are in need. This would provide further self-sufficiency for the tribe. Only more development follows if we’re able to move forward and create the facility that we want to.”
Ty Dayton, of the Star Lake Concerned Citizens’ Group, said, “In 1938, the United States government purchased a parcel of land and placed it in trust for the benefit of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. They can derive additional economic benefit beyond rice. They do have the right to develop it in whatever means they deem appropriate”—including a casino.
But Alan Roy, former director of strategic affairs for the White Earth Nation, said, “We have 30 to 40 percent unemployment for this region. So far their argument that this would create jobs, that this is going to create money, this is going to have this Reagan economic effect, this trickle-down economics, it’s a lie. It’s fallacy, right? What evidence do they have to prove that argument? Building more casinos won’t create more jobs,” said Roy.
White Earth Nation member Damian Badboy added, “There’s got to be initiatives for the people to do things in the community to have our own way of making money and that way it goes into the tribe also.”
However, Otter Tail County Economic Development Officer Nick Leonard took the opposite position. “We don’t have a job shortage, we have more than enough jobs. Today, our job is to find more workers. ”He stated workers are leaving big cities for smaller towns, and may consider moving to Otter Tail County if the tribe builds a new casino there. “We lost, as I mentioned, 50 percent of our resorts. We are an area that needs to continue to grow as it relates to our recreational opportunities. If this casino increases our ability to recruit people to live and work here, that would be fabulous. We know there’s a lot of undeveloped land in that area, and that with or without a casino, there’s going to be growth,” Leonard said.
Dayton, of the opposition group, said, “This proposed site is actually on what’s called the south arm of Star Lake. This particular location is inappropriate. It would be out of character for a number of reasons. Primarily, our biggest concern is the environmental implications.” He noted, “These employers have a hard time staffing up their businesses as it is. You add a 250-person business, it’s already difficult. This isn’t about me. It’s about my children, my children’s children. I’d like them to have their kids someday come to this property.”
Jason Gorr with the Star Lake Property Owners’ Association added, “Part of that would be the aesthetic value. It’s not consistent, it’s not wildlife. If you know that bay at all, it’s totally natural. There’s over five miles of undeveloped shore there. So, it’s a boggy shoreline. It’s undeveloped. It’s all nartorial acres. It’s under 15 feet deep, you know, renowned wild rice. If we think that every foot of shoreline that isn’t staked off as a waterfowl production area currently needs to be developed, even swampy lowlands and boggy areas, what are we asking for our future generations?”
He added, “What is the long-term and short-term benefit to this? Nobody’s answered that clearly. I just think that there are certain areas that are sensitive or key to that lake having the quality it has and we need to preserve those.”
Dayton concluded, “This is not a done deal. It’s far from a done deal.”
