UPDATE: Jemez Pueblo Reponds To Rejection Of Plan For Anthony Casino

The federal government on Friday rejected the Jemez Pueblo’s proposal to build a casino nearly 300 miles away from its tribal lands along the Texas-New Mexico border, citing concerns about oversight of a gaming site so far away.

The Department of the Interior declined the tribe’s request to acquire the land in trust. The Jemez Pueblo had wanted to team up with Santa Fe art dealer Gerald Peters to build a $55 million casino and hotel in Anthony.

In a statement obtained by ABC-7, the Jemez Pueblo said that the sole basis given for the denial in the letter from the Department of the Interior is that the Pueblo would not be exercising sufficient jurisdiction over the land because the Pueblo entered into an Intergovernmental Services Agreement with Doa Ana County for police, fire and ambulance services.

According to the Intergovernmental Services Agreement, the Pueblo said it expressly reserves the right to provide all the services, thereby exercising total jurisdiction over the land.

“On the very day when the headlines in major newspapers across the country are reporting dismal job growth in the U.S., a stagnant economy, and an August jobs report that is one of the worst showings in recent history, it is difficult to understand the Department’s decision to deny an application that will create thousands of jobs on such a technicality,” the Pueblo said in its response.

The plan also was shot down in 2008 by the Bush administration, which said it was too far from the pueblo to generate jobs for the tribe.

The Obama Administration reopened consideration of some off-reservation casino applications. In addition to the Jemez proposal, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk also issued decisions on three applications from California and New Mexico.

Echo Hawk approved those from the Enterprise Rancheria and the North Fork Rancheria tribes in California, saying they had historical connections to their proposed gaming sites in Yuba and Madera counties and had strong support from local communities. The proposed gaming sites are 36 miles from the reservations of the tribes that will run them.

But, as in the Jemez plan, the Echo Hawk rejected one from the Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians, which wanted to develop a gaming facility in Richmond, Calif., more than 100 miles from its existing tribal lands in Mendocino County.

“We have closely reviewed the proposals from the Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians and the Pueblo of Jemez and have determined that they do not meet the requirements under the law necessary for approval,” said Echo Hawk.

“The Guidiville Band’s application did not satisfy many of the requirements to develop a gaming facility at that particular site. With the Pueblo of Jemez, we had significant concerns about the Tribe’s ability to effectively exercise jurisdiction over a parcel nearly 300 miles from its existing reservation.”

Other New Mexico tribes were among those who opposed reconsideration of the Jemez plan, saying they were concerned that approval of a site so far away from tribal lands would set a bad precedent.

Mark Chino, president of the Mescalero Apache tribe, which operates Inn of the Mountain Gods resort and casino in the Ruidoso area, said earlier this year that there were also questions about the Jemez Pueblo’s claim to the land as trust land. He said his tribe has stronger historical ties to the land.

Chino was also concerned that competition from a new casino more than 100 miles away and close to the populous El Paso-Las Cruces market would devastate his tribe’s hospitality enterprises in Ruidoso. Sunland Park racetrack also opposed the plan.

The Las Cruces and Dona Ana Chambers of Commerce had endorsed the proposal, saying it will bring hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars to the area. But Chino and the Sunland Park racetrack said they were concerned the new casino would decimate their businesses.