The Menominee Nation of Wisconsin is ready to push for approval of an off-reservation casino now that the Obama administration has lifted one hurdle in the long process.

The tribe's land-into-trust application was killed in the final days of the Bush administration in January 2009. The site is more than 200 miles from the reservation.

But now that Assistant Secretary Larry Echo Hawk has rescinded the 2008 memo that led to the denial, the tribe is hopeful again. “This is great economic news for our tribe up here in northeastern Wisconsin, but it is also great news for the thousands of residents in southeastern Wisconsin that are in need of good permanent job," Chairman Randal Chevalier said in a press release.

Opportunities like this do not come along every day," Chevalier added. "We look forward to working with local, state, and federal officials in an effort to bring this project to final approval.”

The Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut is financing the project. Even if the casino wins federal approval, the state governor has to approve it.

"It's hard to say what impact, if any, it's going to have," Chuck Bunnell, the tribe's chief of staff, told The New London Day. "The bar remains extremely high for off-reservation gaming."

Get the Story:
Federal policy change could boost Mohegan casino project (The New London Day 6/16)

Bush Administration Off-Reservation Gaming Policy:
Guidance on taking off-reservation land into trust for gaming purposes (January 3, 2008)

Related Stories:
Tribes hopeful with reversal on off-reservation gaming policy (6/15)
Echo Hawk pulls controversial off-reservation gaming memo (6/14)

From the Indianz.Com Archive:
Wisconsin tribe vows fight for off-reservation casino (1/8)