The White Earth Nation of Minnesota is waiting for officials of Otter Tail County to begin its environmental review of the nation’s third casino, which the tribe announced it would build at Star Lake two years ago.
The tribe proposes to build on 14.5 acres that have been put into trust.
The tribe is not complaining about the delay, however. Despite the fact that it is not required to submit to local government environmental review, the tribe supports the additional level of review.
The Pelham Focus reported that “White Earth Tribal Representative, Joe Plummer, presented on behalf of the White Earth Nation that although the tribe believes that the trust lands are not subject to Minnesota Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) requirements and are pre-empted under federal law, the tribe was willing to proceed with a discretionary EIS.”
The tribe doesn’t require local assent to its tribal casino, but it wants to building ancillary facilities, including a parking lot, hotel, RV park and convention center on 225 acres adjacent to the reservation. The Star Lake property is separated from the main reservation, where the already operates two small casinos.
