ONEIDA
Schumer asks delay on Indian trust lands
Updated: 05/07/08 6:40 AM
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- Sen. Charles E. Schumer says issues unresolved.
ONEIDA (AP) — Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N. Y., urged the Interior Department to hold off ruling on the Oneida Indian Nation’s application to place its land in trust to avoid state and local taxes and regulation.
In a letter Monday to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, Schumer said he was concerned about unresolved issues and asked for a delay to “give all parties involved an opportunity to reach a mutually beneficial global settlement.”
Schumer said Associate Deputy Secretary Jim Cason assured him in a telephone call Monday night that the federal agency would respond before issuing a final decision but would not commit to a delay.
In February, the U. S. Bureau of Indian Affairs recommended placing 13,086 acres of Oneida land — including
the tribe’s lucrative Turning Stone Casino and Resort complex in Verona and the nation’s 32-acre territory near Oneida — in trust.
The department can accept the bureau’s recommendation or choose from alternatives that range from no trust lands to transferring as much as 35,000 acres.
Schumer’s recommendations included requiring the Oneidas to pay all back taxes owed to Madison and Oneida counties.
