Indian Casino Project Threatened By Presence of Rare Species
Like certain Democratic Presidential hopefuls, casino opponents will grasp at any straw to achieve victory, disregarding the relevance of the reasoning used as long as their will prevails. The Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts has discovered this as groups in opposition to the tribe's proposed casino have latched onto environmental arguments to persuade federal authorities to refuse trust status to the chosen location.
Indian casinos can only be built on land deeded into federal trust, as reservation lands are. By asking for environmental impact studies, casino foes are hoping cause will be found to prevent the granting of trust status, not an unlikely occurance considering the policies of Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne and his Department. Kempthorne has been a noted foe of casino expansion, and is already being sued by one tribe for capricious disregard of procedure in denying casino applications.
The proposed Plymouth County location is home to the northern red-bellied cooter. For those who don't know or understand the joys of having the cooter in their life, this is a basking turtle that runs up to ten pounds in size. The cooter happens to be on the endangered species list.
Other protected animals that can be found in the 500-acre area suggested for the casino are the four-toed salamander, and the water willow stem borer moth. Certainly, life without the borer moth would be... well, boring.
A Bureau of Indian Affairs hearing will be held March 4th to examine the potential environmental problems the casino might cause. Developers, prepared already to discuss engineering and managerial issues, will now have to verse themselves in the needs of these obscure species and explain how the casino project will not adversely affect them, hoping that Kempthorne's minions do not jump at the chance to reject the trust request.
Recent Comments
| Posted by: Hal Brown | When: 01/20/2008 06:10:10 PM EST |
| Excuse me for the shameless plug for my local (non-profit) pro-casino news and opinion website, but we are engaged in quite a war here in Middleboro, Mass. where those who oppose the planned casino have just discovered the red bellied cooter turtle. The antis, as we call them, are rallying their troops to descend on this Mar. 4th meeting to make their case that the casino will be an environmental disaster. It won't. They have 500 acres in a near perfect location. It will bring many jobs to the area and our bankrupt town gets up to $11 million a year. I have been speaking out in favor of our Mashpee Wampanoag casino since the tribe bought the land this summer. I have been candid about the negatives of gambling, and even wrote a rather dismal article about my own experience visiting the two giant Connecticut casinos for the first time a few days ago. However I am still in favor of casino gambling because I believe for our town the pros far outweigh the cons. Read my website at Casino-Friend.com | |
| Posted by: Wally Glendye | When: 01/21/2008 08:30:16 AM EST |
| Unfortunately for the town of Middleboro there are forces who have jumped in that don?t know what a Red Bellied Cooter is. I live next to the Nemasket River where they thrive along the shore line basking in the sun on a hot summer day. I have never seen a turtle anywhere near the proposed Casino Resort site but we are now lucky enough to have five hundred experts on the subject. Where have these people been over the past twenty years? They could have done a lot of good helping to save our environment. I?m expecting an ACME truck to show up at the proposed Resort Casino site any day now loaded with Water Willow Stem Borers, Four-Toed Salamanders, Eastern box turtles and Bridle Shiners! | |
