The Bureau of Indian Affairs has agreed to acquire 75 acres in trust for the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut.

The land is home to the tribe's elderly housing complex, an historic church and 27 undeveloped acres, The New London Day reports.

The removal of the land from the local tax rolls will cost the town of Montville about $268,000 a year, the paper says. Local officials, however, aren't objecting to the acquisition of the land.

The state of Connecticut, in a case involving the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, challenged the ability of the BIA to acquire land for tribes that weren't federally recognized as of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. The Mohegans and the Pequots weren't recognized until recently.

The state also said tribal settlement acts barred the acquisition of new lands. But both arguments were rejected by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. In a related case involving the Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals came to a similar conclusion.

Get the Story:
Feds Agree With Tribal Plan For Adding Acres (The New London Day 9/17)
pwday

Relevant Links:
Mohegan Tribe - http://www.mohegan.nsn.us

Related Stories:
Trust land challenge rejected by appeals court (9/14)
Appeals court sides with tribe in trust land dispute (02/10)
Appeals court sides with tribe in trust land dispute (02/10)