The Ponca Tribe’s Prairie Flower Casino in Carter Lake, Iowa recently celebrated one year of operation. Ponca Tribe chairman Larry Wright said, “It’s been a long journey to get to this point, but we’re very happy and we’re seeing the fruits of that labor already. It’s been amazing and it’s been more than we contemplated.” Wright said more than 400,000 people have visited Prairie Flower during its first year.
In its first year of operations, the casino donated $775,000 to the Carter Lake fire and police departments and has contributed to infrastructure projects. “As we grow, and we look to grow, we believe that number will grow,” Wright said. He noted the tribe hopes to expand in the future but doesn’t have any official plans.
The opening of the Prairie Flower casino was the culmination of nearly 17 years of legal battles during which the National Indian Gaming Commission ruled in favor of the Ponca tribe three times. The final lawsuit, which ended in May, still could be appealed by the state. Wright said he hopes the legal battles are over, “but we know that that’s not the case” as Nebraska, Iowa and the city of Council Bluffs continue their legal efforts to shut down the Prairie Flower Casino.
In August, lawyers for the three governments filed a notice of appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. They are seeking a review of an earlier ruling by an Iowa federal district court judge that the NIGC acted properly in 2017 when it allowed the tribe to build the casino on a 4.8-acre parcel of land the tribe purchased in 1999. The acreage is located south of Eppley Airfield, about 2 miles north of downtown Omaha.
The three governments argued the Carter Lake site isn’t a legally viable site for the Ponca casino. They claim the tribe only can build on “restored lands” near Niobrara, Nebraska. The three governments also argued at the tribe violated a 2002 promise to use the Carter Lake site for a medical clinic.
Iowa and Council Bluffs officials have expressed concern that Prairie Flower competes with the three state-regulated casinos in Council Bluffs, which attract thousands of visitors from Nebraska. The state of Nebraska wants to keep casinos out of its borders.
Last April, Judge Stephanie Rose of the Southern District of Iowa returned the ruling to the Iowa Gaming and Racing Commission to consider the 2002 agreement, but she didn’t order the casino closed in the interim. The three governments argued that was a mistake. Within weeks of Rose’s ruling, the IGRC voted once again to allow the casino. Rose reaffirmed her decision on August 12, allowing the casino to continue to operate. The next step would be for the 8th Circuit Court to schedule oral arguments in front of a 3-judge panel.
