Suit over controversial casino settled; new bid is planned

Sarah Wyatt

Monday, Dec. 6, 1999 | 10:48 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. -- The U.S. Department of Interior will reconsider a bid to put a casino at a Wisconsin dog track after a judge approved an agreement Friday ending a lawsuit that claimed political influence in the Clinton administration blocked the proposal.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb approved the settlement agreement reached by the U.S. Interior and Justice departments and Four Feathers, a group of three Chippewa bands and the Florida owners of the Hudson dog track.

"(The settlement) resolved the issues between us and we very much look forward to the future," said Mark Goff, a spokesman for Four Feathers, which includes the Lac Courte Oreilles, Red Cliff and Sokaogon (Mole Lake) Chippewa bands in northern Wisconsin.

Supporters of the casino claimed the proposal was denied because of pressure from the White House after casino-operating tribes in Wisconsin and Minnesota, not wanting competition from a Hudson casino, offered campaign contributions to the Democratic Party.

The rival tribes eventually gave more than $300,000 to the party.

The Interior Department cited local opposition as a key factor in the decision to reject the casino bid.

After an 18-month investigation, independent counsel Carol Elder Bruce in October cleared Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and others involved in the case of any criminal wrongdoing.

U.S. Attorney Peggy Lautenschlager, who is representing the government in the lawsuit, said she was happy that Crabb approved the settlement.

"I think this affords us the opportunity to get the application process back on track and have the tribe's application fully discussed and reviewed," she said.

The St. Croix Chippewa band, which opposes the casino, tried to intervene as a party to the lawsuit, but Crabb ruled Friday it was not legally entitled to do so.

"There doesn't seem to be any role in that lawsuit for the St. Croix, the city of Hudson or Bob Smith who owns the bakery down the street," Crabb said.

Ho-Chunk Nation President Jacob LoneTree said the settlement could mean financial trouble for other tribes in the state.

"The question now is: Will all of the dog track properties in Wisconsin be converted to casinos?" the Ho-Chunk Nation said in a news release. "The opening of a new tribal casino by northern tribes, who already have established reservation casinos, is sure to upset an economic balance carefully crafted through agreements between Wisconsin's Governor Thompson and the Indian tribes in Wisconsin."

The Menominee tribe has a proposal under consideration to develop a casino at Dairyland Greyhound Park in Kenosha in the southeastern corner of the state, and the Ho-Chunk have expressed interest in buying a Lake Geneva track for casino development.

Even if the Indian tribes do get federal approval for the casino, Gov. Tommy Thompson would veto any off-reservation casino proposals that do not have strong local support, his spokesman Kevin Keane said.

Thompson also has said an existing casino would have to be shut down somewhere in the state before a new one could be opened, Keane said.