"Good news for the nation's casino-developing Indian tribes. President Obama has thrown out a directive from former President George W. Bush that crippled off-reservation casino development.

Not so-good news: Financing for new casino construction remains difficult to obtain, at the same time that unemployment and poverty figures among the tribes are soaring.

The Bush-era directive stated new off-reservation development would be permitted only if the project was within commuting distance.

Now the Bureau of Indian Affairs said it will return to a policy that considers off-reservation casinos on a case-by-case basis.

In a prepared statement, Larry Echo Hawk, assistant secretary for Indian Affairs, said the Bush administration's 2008 directive "was unnecessary and was issued without the benefit of tribal consultation."

Get the Story:
Alex Finkelstein: Obama Gives Tribes Thumbs Up on New Casino Development (World Property Channel 6/22)

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:
BIA starts new year with off-reservation gaming policy (1/7)
Rejected tribes want casinos too far from reservations (1/7)