In Minnesota, the Otter Tail County board must decide by late July whether to request a full environmental impact statement regarding the White Earth Nation’s proposed Shooting Star Casino and Resort on Star Lake near Dent. The tribe wants to build a casino on trust land and a parking lot and other infrastructure on purchased fee land.
The property would include a casino with 850 slot machines, a 180-room hotel, bar and grill, restaurant, 10,000 square foot conference center, 6,000 square foot indoor-outdoor pool and spa, gift shop, entertainment lounge and RV park. The tribe currently operates the Shooting Star Casino, Hotel and Entertainment in Mahnomen and Shooting Star Casino in Bagley.
An opposition group called the Star Lake Concerned Citizens said the proposed casino’s increased traffic could threaten wild rice beds and the local ecosystem. The group’s President Ty Dayton said the area’s wetlands are protected by the Department of Natural Resources and should be exempt from inclusion in trust land.
Otter Tail County Commissioner Wayne Johnson said the White Earth Nation has submitted a wetland mitigation or replacement plan to the Army Corps of Engineers for dredging a wetland in order to build the casino on their chosen site. He added the tribe has applied for a permit to build a parking lot within the county’s jurisdiction. The Nation’s trust lands are controlled by a treaty with the U.S. government, Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Army Corps of Engineers.
Shooting Star Casino Chief Executive Officer Bill Marsh noted the property will have a resort feel to blend in with others in the area. He said following 13 months of construction the casino is expected to open in late fall 2018.
