PHOTO COURTESY: Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
MASHPEE – The Interior Department is expected to issue a ruling Tuesday on the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s land-into-trust qualifications, a critical step for the Tribe’s $1 billion casino project in Taunton.
A decision was expected last week, but was delayed until this week. Construction on the First Light casino project is on hold after opponents won an initial lawsuit in federal court last year.
Judge William Young remanded the decision back to the Interior Department for reconsideration. The government must now decide whether 170 acres in Mashpee and 151 acres in Taunton can be designated as a reservation.
Federal law allows tribes to operate casinos on reservation lands.
“We continue to work closely with the Department of Interior toward a decision that benefits the future of the Tribe,” Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell said in a statement last week.
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