Blinded by the Light

On March 29th, people all over the world turned off their lights to make one simple statement - find new ways to reduce impacts on the environment. The movement was called Earth Hour and it’s primary goal was to start a movement that ends with a solution to this common challenge we all face – global warming. Earth hour was created by the World Wildlife Federation in Sydney Austrila in 2007 and has grown in one year from a single event into a global movement. This year, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the world turned out their lights for one hour.

I had never heard of Earth Hour until last week when I received an email from a coworker who thought it would be a good idea to get our employees involved. I looked into what the movement was all about and it really got me thinking about…you guessed it….the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian's proposed resort bingo hall in Middleboro and the light pollution it will cause. I keep hearing that the hotel tower for the resort bingo hall will be only 18 stories…..okaaaay….albiet, 18 stories is a heck of a lot better than 30 or 40 stories but lets face it, 18 stories will still tower over the tree line - ummmm….that's why it's called a tower. It will be an 18 story tower of constant light washing out the night sky and causing a whole host of other environmental issues that shouldn’t be ignored or dismissed. Considering I live 3 miles away, some might say that really shouldn’t be complaining….but I am going to anyway. Why? Well, first of all, I am pretty sure I will be able to see the sky glow from my home…heck, I can see the sky glow from the Shaws supermarket and that is only one mile away from my home so it is easy to imagine the sky glow from the resort bingo hall with a 10,000 seat stadium, 10,000 car parking lot, shops, resuarants, golf course and gas station. But I have other reasons to complain....this tower issue isn't just about people being able to see it over the tree line....it's about how this entire project and the tower will adversely affect our health and the health of the local wildlife.

Light pollution is the popular name for sky glow - a brightening of the night sky that is caused by artificial light being scattered by small particles in the air such as water droplets and dust. Light pollution, as far as people are concerned also includes light intruding into our homes such as a bright street light or resort bingo hall outside a bedroom window.

The major sources of artificial light include street lighting, security lamps, advertising and display lighting, floodlights for sporting and concert events and building illumination. Electricity is a major contributor to global warming by emitting carbon into our atmosphere. Consider this, in order to produce the electricity needed to run five 100 watt light bulbs from dusk to dawn, the utility company must burn about one ton of coal. Burning one ton of coal releases into the environment: 6600 pounds of carbon dioxide (greenhouse gas), 50 pounds of sulfur dioxide (primary toxin in acid rain), 30 pounds of nitrogen oxide (ground level ozone) and trace amounts of mercury, arsenic and other heavy metals known to cause harmful effects to a persons long term health and to the environment. Mercury and arsenic have also been linked to birth defects.

Light pollution also has devastating impacts on wildlife. Light pollution is know to cause migrating birds to collide with lighted buildings, cause a false dawn that disrupts bird behavior, cause moth deaths due to light attraction and disrupt tree and plant habits that are controlled by the length of daylight. Travis Longcore and Catherine Rich from the Ecological Society of America wrote an excellent paper on light pollution and its effects on ecological systems. In a nutshell, the article says:

- Ecological light pollution causes chronic or periodically increase illumination, and direct glare.

- Animals can experience increased orientation or disorientation from additional illumination and can either be attracted to or repulsed by glare, which affect foraging, reproduction, communication and other critical behaviors.

- Artificial light disrupts inter-specific interactions evolved in natural patterns of light and dark, with serious implications for community ecology.

As far as birds go, bird mortality caused by collision with human structures receives relatively little public attention, but structural hazards are actually responsible for more bird kills than higher profile catastrophes such as oil spills. – source Fatal Light Awareness Program

Birds easily become confused by artificial light, especially in the dark and in foggy or rainy weather. Birds by the hundreds or thousands can be injured or killed in one night at one building when they become confused by artificial light, are blinded by weather and are unable to see glass. It is estimated that up to 100 million birds die in building collisions each year, many of whom may be known to be in long term decline or officially listed as threatened. Birds migrating at night are strongly attracted to and in some instances trapped by sources of artificial light, particularly during periods of inclement weather. So even if a collision is avoided, birds being reluctant to fly out of the light into the dark will flap around until they drop to the ground in exhaustion. The problem of course is the fact that compared to habitat loss and pollution, building collisions are not well known or adequately understood. Even so, I have read that more birds die each year from building collisions than those killed from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Yet, I continue to read and hear “it’s only 18 stories”…or better yet, I get to read a comparison of a casino tower to local housing subdivisions and mac mansions from a “why the Middleboro casino is good” website. Apparently because we have water towers and undeveloped land that will eventually be inhabited by afore mentioned subdivisions and obnoxiously large houses, we shouldn’t complain nor worry about the resort bingo tower.

This picture is a before and after picture taken in Wilbraham Massachusetts facing west toward Springfield. The picutre on the left was taken 50 years ago....the one on the right was taken at the same spot last year.

This isn’t just about our landscape or what we can see from our homes! It is about light pollution….you know, that luminous orange glow that halos cities or large developments such as a resort bingo hall…that orange glow that threatens wildlife by disrupting biological rhythms, ecological systems and interfering with the behavior of nocturnal animals and migratory birds. I find it extremely sad and disheartening that some pro casino advocates cannot or will not acknowledge the environmentally devastating effects this project will have on wildlife . I cannot understand how a casino impact study committee didn’t even take into consideration the huge impacts a facility this large will have on our nocturnal environment. I guess they have all been blinded by the light and cannot see that saving some open space for a golf course with a tiny corner set aside for wetland mitigation as outlined in the “plans” we saw at the BIA hearing is hardly wildlife mitigation and that setting up special species crossings at route 44 as a mitigation plan will hardly help any species of wildlife, never mind the birds. Our local wildlife is affected by everything we do. The resort bingo hall project is one major project that will change our community forever in so many ways. It will change our wildlife community as well. I am deeply disappointed because I would have hoped that someone from the pro camp would have recognized and acknowledged that fact instead of trying to quiet and calm us on the entire tower issue by only speaking to and downplaying the issue of a tower blighting our beautiful landscape. Yes, having an 18 story hotel towering over our tree line is quite upsetting….light from the resort bingo hall infiltrating homes abutting the property is hideous to just think about, but the effect it will have on our local wildlife and our local ecological systems is just downright disturbing.

To my way of thinking there’s something wrong, or missing, with any person who hasn’t got a soft spot in their heart for an animal of some kind. – Will James

Every animal knows more than you do. – American Indian proverb

- be the change you want to see in the world -

Open Letter to the BIA

March 17, 2008

Franklin Keel, Regional Director
Eastern Regional Office
Bureau of Indian Affairs
545 Marriott Drive, Suite 700
Nashville, TN 37214

RE: Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe Land-in-Trust for Initial Reservation in Middleboro, MA. Local traffic impacts expected from the Mashpee Wampanoag land-in-trust application - route 44

CC: Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne; Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, Carl Artman


Dear Director Keel,

I am writing to you to in regards to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Land-in-Trust for Initail reservation in Middleboro, Massachusetts. The Tribe is seeking this land as an initial reservation specifically for the purposes of gambling. To date, the host community as well as the surrounding communities have not seen preliminary plans or conceptual designs for the proposed facility. It is for this reason I am asking for another hearing be scheduled to address any potential impacts directly related to the proposed casino project as outlined in the Federal Register dated March 6, 2008.

From what was described in the Federal Register notice, there are several potential environmental impacts expected from the proposed project outlined in the land-in-trust application. One of these impacts is the expected increase in traffic volume on route 44.

US 44 runs for 39 miles in Massachusetts. It enters the state in the town of Seekonk through to the city of Taunton passing through the towns of Rehoboth and Dighton along the way. It continues eastward from Taunton through the towns of Raynham, Lakeville, Middleborough, Carver, Plympton, and Kingston before ending in Plymouth. US 44 has interchanges with Route 24 in Raynham and with Interstate 495 in Middleborough. East of the Middleborough Rotary, US 44 cuts through the Northern section of Middleboro and passes by the historically significant Oliver Mill Park, site of Judge Peter Oliver’s 18th-century industrial complex whose ancient stone-walled waterways still remain on the banks of the Nemasket River. This section of route 44 is a two lane arterial highway for five miles until just past the intersection with Route 105, where it becomes a two-lane freeway with a guard rail acting as a median divider for three miles until just before the intersection with Route 58. East of route 58 in Carver, it becomes a newly-built, 7.5-mile long 4 lane freeway section connecting to Route 3. This newly built highway replaces the old route 44, a residental street. The new highway allows for route 44 traffic to bypass the Lakenham Historic District in Carver and the congested business district in Plymouth. The old section of US 44 (Plymouth Street) which starts at route 58 in Carver and continues through Plymouth to route 3 was a heavily traveled road for local and tourist traffic before the extention was built. This outdated section of route 44 first appeared on some maps starting in 2005 as Route 44A; however, Route 44A signs have not been put up after the bypass was built, and the route has not appeared in the official route log of the Massachusetts Highway Department.

The Middleboro Casino Impact report estimates an additional 20,000 – 40,000 cars will travel to the proposed Middelboro casino site as outlined to the Town by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. There could be significant direct impacts to traffic patterns of these eleven communites that share US route 44 in Southeast Massachusetts with the estimated new traffic, as well as a potential for direct, life threatening impacts to all of the southeast communities, including Cape Cod.

There is cause for concern regarding the section of route 44 east of route 105 in Middleboro and west of route 58 in Carver. According to the intergovernmental agreement, road improvements outlined for route 44 only address the section of road from route 495 to route 105. As noted above, route 44 east of route 105 is a two lane highway with a guard rail acting as a divider. Large sections of this stretch of road also have guardrails on the shoulder, creating a potential bottleneck situation for east/west travel in the event of an accident. In the event of an accident, traffic would need to be diverted to heavily populated residential secondary roads. Also, increased volume of traffic resulting from a casino resort could easily cause backup at the lane drop at route 58 heading westbound from route 3. No impact analysis or traffic study has been done to date to address potential traffic increase coming from route 3 which is already a heavily traveled road.

The new section of route 44 was originally forecast to carry 15,000 vehicles per day (AADT) by 2015, but new existing commercial development has already pushed this estimate up to 37,500 vehicles per day by 2015. According to the Massachusetts Highway Department, the new four lane extension already sees 17,000 vehicles on average per day. The two lane, guardrail divided section of the highway between route 58 in Carver and route 105 in Middleboro has an average daily traffic volume of 17,600 vechiles. An increase of 20,000 – 40,000 vehicles per day going to and from the proposed facility has the potential to bring the volume of daily traffic on this road to 57,000 vehicles within 2 years…this is an immediate increase of 19,500 vehicles over the projected 37,500 vehicles traveling the road in 2015. The estimated 20,000 – 40,000 additional vehicles per day traveling to the proposed casino site will immediately double the amount of traffic the road handles to date.

Traffic delays on this section of the road due to volume or an accident will result in traffic spill over onto secondary roads, especially onto route 44A (Plymouth Street) which goes through heavily populated residential and historical areas of Middleboro, Carver and Plymouth.

Traffic overflow onto heavily populated, residental secondary roads will also threaten the health and safety of those residents and children living on those roads. These secondary roads are primary routes of travel for school buses, local emergency responders such as fire and police, and residents running errands throughout the area. Traffic overflow due to the proposed casino will emit tons of noxious greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, lowering our air quality. Traffic overflow has the potential to cause congestion and delays for school buses and emergency response personnel. Traffic increases from patrons leaving the proposed casino establishment will result in higher incidents of drunk driving and accidents which pose a direct threat to the health and safety of area residents. There are several school bus stops along residental roads and increased traffic threatens the safety of these children due to drunk driving, speeding and motor vehicle accidents.

Route 44 is also the emergency evacuation route for surrounding area residents if ever there is a catastrophic event at the Plymouth Nuclear Power Plant. It also serves as an Emergency Evacuation Route for Cape Cod residents and tourists in the event of a hurricane or other natural or man-made disaster. Large traffic volume increases due to a casino resort has the potential to clog emergency escape routes, and thus endangering the lives of thousands of south coast residents, as well as area tourists.

In addition, large increases in traffic volume on secondary roads will increase litter and exhaust noise while decreasing air quality. Storm-water runoff pollution from roadway runoff will increase and threaten the qualilty of the water that is relied upon by thousands of residents who own private wells.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe wishes to have the land in Middleboro placed into trust for the sole purpose of building a resort casino. This development will directly impact area towns and residents and lower the quality of life we currently work hard to preserve and currently enjoy. I do not believe any mitigation effort would be sucessful, or could be afforded by this State or it’s residents to eliminate this very serious and direct threat to our health, safety and environment.

Respectfully Submitted,


Kim Shea
Carver, MA

What a Bunch of Rubbish

I remember watching the famous "Crying Indian" pollution commercial starring Iron Eyes Cody when I was just a little kid and although the actuality of Cody's Native American heritage has been a matter of debate, the powerful message communicated in this decades old commercial can not be denied.

Every time I watch that commercial I am mesmerized into silence once again, like I was the first time I saw it as kid in the 70s. It pains me to think about the environmental mess the Mashpee Wampanoag Bingo Hall Resort will cause, a mess that will be caused by a group of people who are susposed to be stewards of the land. Aside from the wetland destruction, natural habitat destruction, water pollution, air pollution, light and noise pollution, etc. etc. etc., trash and litter along our roads will be quite obvious.

Even today, without an unregulated class II bingo hall resort right down the road from my home, I am constantly picking up the trash that collects along my stretch of road and around my yard. This litter is not necessarily from people throwing trash out their car windows as they pass through my neighborhood either, sure some is…and some is from trash blown my way from areas unknown due to uncovered trash containers, trash haulers and such. My recent litter retrieval adventures around the yard got me thinking about garbage, specifically the huge amount of garbage that will be generated from an establishment like the one outlined in the Mashpee Wampanoag’s site plans that were recently released to the newspaper. I did get a chance to look at the plans – the scaled back plans for the “resort”.

One would think that after the excellent decision to kill Patrick’s 3+ casino plan and thus killing the chances for the Mashpee Wampanoag’s to build a class III casino, us anti’s would be off celebrating a huge victory for our cause. Nope, not us….we are vigilant in our cause to protect and preserve the quality of life in our little corner of the world. If the Mashpee Wampanoag Casino investors do actually go ahead with this “resort” if the land is placed into trust -- well then we will need to fight even harder to make sure they answer for all the impacts directly related to the bingo hall resort. One of those impacts is pollution of our natural environment from on-reservation trash generation and off-reservation trash disposal. I cannot even begin to know how much trash will be generated by a bingo hall resort touting a 1,000 room hotel, restaurants, gas station, 10,000 seat stadium, golf course, waterpark and retail stores, but I can give you some information about trash generation in the US as a whole and try to guesstimate trash generation at the bingo resort.

In 2006, US residents, businesses, and institutions produced more than 251 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW), which is approximately 4.6 pounds of waste per person per day. – US EPA

From what I have read on the subject, every year, the United States generates approximately 230 million tons of trash-- about 4.6 pounds per person per day. Less than one-quarter of it is recycled while the rest is incinerated or buried in landfills and according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, many of the country's landfills have been closed for one or both of these two reasons:

-- They were full.
-- They were contaminating groundwater.

Incineration, such as is done at the Semass Resource Recovery Facility in Rochester is the most viable option, but it also has its impacts. Incineration does generate reusable energy, but at a cost--it has the potential to release toxins into the air and it creates a by-product called fly ash that requires disposal in landfills.

The Mashpee Tribe wants to build a facility to the likes of Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods in Connectitcut. Foxwoods casino is the largest casino in the world, operating 24 hours a day 365 days a year. The casino averages around 40,000 visitors a day. If the Mashpee Wampanoag’s build a casino-resort, then their casino may very well generate up to 92 tons of trash per day or 33,580 tons of trash per year. A 40% recycling rate from the facility would be 13,432 tons recycled….leaving 20,148 tons of trash per year to dispose of (or 55 tons per day).

Since they really can only build a bingo hall at this point, lets say that they average about half the number of people that frequent Foxwoods and they recycle 40% of their municipal solid waste stream….they still have the potential to generate over 10,000 tons of trash per year (approximately 28 tons of trash per day). This averages out to be 1% of the total annual tons of trash received by SEMASS. Now I understand that 1% doesn’t sound all that bad, but consider this:

Semass Resource Recovery Facility in Rochester receives approximately 1 Million tons of municipal solid waste per year from 60 participating communities in Cape Cod, Southeastern Massachusetts and the Boston Metropolitan area. If you do the math, each community on average contributes 16,000 tons of trash to the facility per year (43 tons per day)…this bingo resort has the potential to generate half as much municipal solid waste in a day as an entire community if they recycle 40% of their waste stream.

Yet according to the Middleboro CRAC….err, I mean RAC (heck, after Thursday’s vote they can now actually accurately call themselves a resort advisory committee), trash is a non-issue not worthy of discussion or even mentioning in the Casino Resort No-Impact Report. Middleboro Town Selectman Adam Bond isn’t concerned about trash either…well, as long as it doesn’t stay in Middleboro, that is. So…..where is all this trash going to go?? My best guess is the Seamass Resource Recovery Facility in Rochester where it will be incinerated and the fly ash from incineration will go directly to the Carver-Marion-Wareham Ash Landfill located on Federal Road in Carver. Honestly, it would have been nice if the Middleboro BOS or CRAC at least acknowledged the fact that a huge amount of trash will be generated and need to be disposed of in other communities.

Incineration of municipal solid waste and subsequent safe disposal of the fly ash is an expensive process that is not without it’s own risks. North Carver residents are already intimately familiar with the consequences of a leaking landfill on water supplies and the unknown increase in trash going to SEMASS from the Bingo Hall Resort means an increase in fly ash going to Carver for landfill. I would think that at the very least, the Tribe needs to disclose what their anticipated waste stream generation rates are going to be as well as disclose any type of recycling and recovery operations they plan on implementing to minimize the impacts on these communities. Will SEMASS need to expand it’s operations again to accommodate this trash? Will the Carver landfill be able to take the fly ash? I don’t know….heck, I don’t even know how much trash will be generated, I can only guess….but I’d sure as heck like to know. We in the surrounding communities need to be heard on these issues and be given some answers.

Please write a letter to the BIA expressing your environmental concerns regarding the land-in-trust application. Better yet, go to the BIA hearing on March 25th at the Middleboro high school at 6:00 PM and make a statement about your concerns. If you aren’t able to go to the hearing, don’t fret….send a statement of concern to:

Franklin Keel, Regional Director
Eastern Regional Office
Bureau of Indian Affairs
545 Marriott Drive, Suite 700
Nashville, TN 37214

This hearing scheduled for March 25th is not the end all say all of the environmental impacts. The Tribe will need to submit a draft Environmental Impact Statement to the EPA, who will in turn publish the draft EIS in the Federal Register along with the dates for the public comment period. There are going to be direct and immediate negative environmental impacts to our communities regardless of what scale of bingo hall resort is built. The Federal Register printed the following outline to the plan for the Middleboro site:

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian AffairsNotice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Trust Acquisition of an Initial Reservation for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in the Town of Mashpee, Barnstable County, and Town of Middleboro, Plymouth County, MA, Including a Gaming Facility at the Middleboro Property

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Notice

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) as Lead Agency, with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (Tribe) as Cooperating Agency, will be gathering information needed for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed trust acquisition of approximately 679 acres of land as the Tribe's initial reservation. The proposed acquisition includes approximately 140 acres in the Town of Mashpee, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, and approximately 539 acres in the Town of Middleboro, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. The property in Mashpee would be used for tribal administrative and cultural purposes and housing for tribal members. For the property in Middleboro, the Tribe plans the construction of a gaming facility with related facilities. The purposes of the proposed federal action are to provide a land base for the Tribe and to help meet the economic needs of the Tribe and its members. This notice also announces public scoping meetings to identify potential issues, alternatives and content for inclusion in the EIS.

The properties in Middleboro, a number of contiguous parcels totaling approximately 539 acres, are located along Route 44, about 3.5 miles east of exit 6 on Interstate 495. Although the eventual size and scope of the facilities may be modified based on information obtained through the EIS process, the Tribe's current plans for the Middleboro land include the construction of a destination resort and gaming facility, with a 750 to 1500 room hotel, restaurants and food court with a variety of offerings, a 5,000 to 10,000 seat entertainment venue, approximately 80,000 square feet of convention event space, retail shops, a service station, a warehouse and employee services. The project also includes plans for Native American cultural attractions and for recreational facilities, such as a spa, golf course and water park. In addition, there would be approximately 10,000 parking spaces, the majority of which would be in parking garages or under the casino.The proposed federal action encompasses all of the various federal approvals required to implement the Tribe's fee-to-trust application. Areas of environmental concern identified so far for analysis in the EIS include water resources and wetlands, stormwater management and erosion control, air quality, biological resources, historic properties and other cultural resources, socioeconomic conditions, traffic and transportation, land use, public utilities and services, noise, lighting, hazardous materials, environmental justice, visual resources and aesthetics, and cumulative impacts. The range of issues and alternatives addressed in the EIS may be expanded or reduced, based on comments received in response to this notice and from the public scoping meetings.

Public Comment Availability

Comments, including names and addresses of respondents, will be available for public review at the mailing address shown in the ADDRESSES section, during regular business hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying information- -may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.DATES: Written comments on the scope and implementation of this proposal must arrive by April 9, 2008. The public scoping meetings will be held March 25 and March 26, 2008, starting at 6 p.m. and continuing until all those who register to make statements have been heard.ADDRESSES: You may mail, hand carry or fax written comments to Franklin Keel, Regional Director, Eastern Regional Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 545 Marriott Drive, Suite 700, Nashville, Tennessee 37214, fax (615) 564-6550.The March 25, 2008, meeting will be at the Middlboro High School Auditorium, 71 East Grove Street, Middleboro, Massachusetts. The March 26, 2008, meeting will be at the Mashpee High School Auditorium.

We need to hold the Tribe and the investors accountable for ensuring every effort and technology is utilized to minimize or negate environmental impact to our communities due to the Tribe’s plan for the Middleboro land as described in the Federal Register. There is no doubt that this pristine landscape will be bulldozed to accommodate a gambling resort. There will be irreversible destruction of forested wetlands and natural habitats relied upon by wildlife, there will be negative impacts to our quality of life, and yes…there will impacts on our communities from the trash and litter too. This plan submitted to the BIA by the Mashpee Wampanoag Indians will have a direct negative environmental impact on the site, the host Town and the surrounding communities if it placed in trust as an initial reservation. To think otherwise is rubbish.

In America today you can murder land for private profit. You can leave the corpse for all to see, and nobody calls the cops. ~Paul Brooks, The Pursuit of Wilderness, 1971

Give a Hoot!

We had a great victory yesterday in the Statehouse, but we are not out of the woods just yet! No slots at the racetracks means no slots for the Wampanoag Indian Casino pipedream. We cannot allow the Racino bill to pass or we open the door for class III gambling on sovereign land. As it stands, Massachusetts does not have to allow any class III gambling in Middleboro if the land goes into trust. We do not have to sign a compact with the Tribe and the Tribe cannot sue to force us into a compact. No compact means no mega-casino resort! As of yesterday afternoon, all the investors can hope for is a class II bingo hall.

If slots are allowed at the racetracks then the Tribe will be allowed to conduct class III gambling with slots -- If the mega casino is built, the racetracks will lose. They are no competition for a mega-casino resort. Care about jobs in Massachusetts? Then care about the people already employed at the tracks....if slots are allowed, they won't have a job.

Give a Hoot and Spread the Word......NO SLOTS = NO CASINO!

The Nutty Professor

I couldn’t believe what I was watching recently when WBZ news reported that preliminary talks for a compact were underway between the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe and the state. Bellicose Bumpkin recently blogged on this news report and stated:

They even rolled out a Harvard "expert" to tell us all how inevitable it is. Professor Kevin Washburn sounded like he needs to study up on Indian law - particularly how it works in real life. He might check in with the Kickapoo tribe in Texas who have been trying to get a class 3 compact for the last 12 years.

I couldn’t agree with you more Bumpkin! Professor Kevin Washburn, an expert on Indian gaming law is a visiting professor at Harvard. He has an impressive background and I certainly do not doubt his credentials in the slightest, but considering he is a member of the Oneida Tribe and a visiting professor, I seriously doubt the accuracy of what he said in this report. I must say I am disappointed by some of his “expert” comments regarding what is required by Massachusetts in dealing with the Mashpee Wampanoag’s push for a mega casino resort in Middleboro. I’m not saying he lied, I am merely stating that he neglected to tell the entire story….another one of those half-truth situations my friend factfinder is so adept at. This professor stated that the Tribe doesn’t need State approval to open a casino, and if the Tribe wants to offer class III gambling then the State has to negotiate. He went on to say that because Massachusetts has a lottery and allows for special casino nights the Tribe can build a casino without state approval and can “theoretically” conduct class III gaming. If we don’t negotiate, then we won’t get any revenue…

WOW! Sounds pretty scary, huh? Tut-tut.. don’t fret too much because although the Tribe could build a mega resort bingo hall (and really…why bother when the wonder of it all is less than two hours away), they cannot build a mega casino resort and offer class III gambling without a State compact. Did I mention that the State is not required to negotiate a compact with the Tribe? Let me direct you to two extremely important court cases that address this oh so important fact.

First is the Seminole v. State of Florida case. In Seminole Tribe of Florida v Florida (1996), the Court indicated for the first time that Congress is without power under the Commerce Clause (or Indian Commerce Clause) to abrogate a state's sovereign immunity.

Florida’s governor, Lawton Chiles, opposed casino gambling for the Seminoles, doing so before and after a statewide vote rejected a proposal to establish casino gambling. Governor Chiles did agree that the Seminoles could offer card games and raffles on their reservations, as well as wagering on racing and jai alai, activities already approved by the state. When Chiles refused to negotiate with the Seminole tribe over casino gambling, the tribe took him into federal court, charging that he had failed to exercise good faith.

In its appeal to the high court, Florida was joined by thirty one other states, all of whom feared that should the Indian Gaming Act stand, Congress would be allowed to override their sovereign immunity in other areas, such as the environment, business practices, and health, and safety. In arguing before the justices, the counsel for Florida insisted that the gaming law directly commanded the states to do certain things in such a way that made them mere subdivisions of the national government. The Seminole tribe of Florida and the United States government argued that Congress had full authority to pass the legislation under the power of the Indian Commerce Clause. So extensive was that authority that Congress, in this instance, could abrogate the historical immunity that states enjoyed from suit.

The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ultimately decided that Congress lacked the authority to force the states to negotiate with the tribes. In reaching this opinion, the court pointed to the Eleventh Amendment, which provided that a state could not be sued without its consent. The Supreme Court held that the Indian tribes cannot sue states under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in federal courts without state permission. In other words the tribes cannot force states to negotiate gaming compacts. The decision was based on the 11th Amendment to the Constitution which provides that a state can only be sued in its own courts or if it consents to the suit. Basically states have a sovereign immunity from lawsuits filed in federal courts and Congress cannot abridge that immunity through passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Speaking for the Court, Chief Justice Rehnquist said that the Eleventh Amendment restricted federal judicial power and that other constitutional powers allocated to Congress, such as the Indian Commerce Clause, cannot be used to circumvent the constitutional limitations placed on federal jurisdiction. – US Supreme Court Seminole Tribe v. Florida

The Eleventh Amendment

The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state.

This important ruling affirmed the right of the states to be free of suits by Native Americans under the Gaming Act. However with the congressional act outlined in the IGRA voided, it could be argued that all that the tribes would need to do is approach the Department of the Interior to seek approval to open a class III gambling facility. Be as it may, this arguement did not make it easier for tribes to get approval for class III gambling facility, as shown in the Kickapoo Tribe v. Texas

The Kickapoo tribe has been trying to open a class III gambling facility with slots in Texas for several years. Although the state of Texas has been operating a lottery since 1991, the Department of the Interior has taken the position that the state’s definition of “lottery” is broad enough to include most casino-style games…except for slots. The Kickapoo tribe has attempted to negotiate a class III gambling compact with the state of Texas since 1993 with no success. In 2004, the tribe invoked something called the Secretarial Procedures and submitted a gaming proposal to the Secretary of the Interior. The Secretarial Procedures were established by the Secretary of the Interior in response to the Seminole v Florida decision because that case effectively blocked tribes from forcing states into compacts. The regulations under the Secretarial Procedures potentially allow for tribes to have class III gambling facilities even when states refuse to negotiate a compact with a tribe or consent to a good-faith suit by giving the Secretary the authority to prescribe his or her own procedures for class III gaming. Source: Indian Gaming – December 2007


Well, Texas was having none of it and turned around and sued the Secretary of the Interior seeking an injunction prohibiting the Secretary of the Interior from proceeding against the State of Texas under the Secretarial Procedures. Chief Judge Edith Jones of the Fifth Circuit Court held that the Secretary of the Interior did not have the authority to institute the Secretarial Procedures because it was in conflict with the IGRA "good faith" determination by an independent federal judiciary. It allowed for the possibility of tribal gaming in the absence of a tribal-state compact and was in contradiction to Congress’s repeated insistence that class III gaming can not be conducted on tribal land without a compact. The Kickapoo do not have a compact with the state of Texas and thus cannot operate a class III gambling facility.

The bottom line here is that although states have no constitutional authority over Indian reservations, Congress has consistently authorized states to regulate or prohibit certain activities on reservations. Congress views the tribal-state compact as an indispensable prerequisite to class III gambling on tribal lands and the IGRA does not provide for the conduct of class III gambling on Indian lands in the absence of a tribal-state compact. So, although our Harvard professor may be “theoretically” correct in what he is saying, assuming of course, that the land actually is placed in trust – which is quite doubtful considering they do not own the land and haven’t proven ancestral ties to Middleboro - the courts have shown otherwise.


Sure, if the land is placed in trust the Mashpee Wampanoag’s can build a mega bingo hall resort without a State compact…we knew that, but again, why bother. No compact may mean no revenue, but it also means no class III gambling for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. States are not required to negotiate a compact with an Indian Tribe and a Tribe cannot sue a State to force them into a compact. No compact, no class III gambling, no slots…..no reason for the investors to pursue this pipe dream.

Sorry Senate President Murray....nice news clip and all but regardless of what the nutty professor says, you need to do your own homework because it is not time to enter in negotiations with the tribe…nor is it wise.


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Casinos are Inevitable? OH NO!

For weeks now I have been reading about and listening to how our Governor has been whispering sweet nothings into the ears of legislators, city and town councils, and the Unions….make promises of 30,000 jobs….property tax relief….money for our schools….money for our “crumbling infastructure”….casinos are the only way! And you’d better watch out because if the State doesn’t jump on his three-casino plan, well….then we are in deep doo-doo! According to Governor Patrick, the Mashpee Wampanoags are going to build a casino-resort whether we like it or not so we had better hurry up and beat them to the punch! Does he mean kool-aid? Sure sounds like it to me….perhaps the same kool-aid served up by the Tribe and the BOS this past summer in Middleboro. There is no stopping it…there is nothing you can do…...it is inevitable.
Oh No! Ohhhhh yeeeaahhhh…….

Patrick has repeatedly used that oh-so-tired arguement that a tribal casino is coming no matter what and the only way to stop it is for the state to create a legal framework for expanded gaming – meaning, his three casino plan. Good backup in case his promises of sweet nothings doesn’t work like it did with the teachers union….or if some people in our legislature have the gall to question his perfect plan. Tell everyone that the Mashpee Wampanoags’ quest to build a tribal casino means that expanded gambling is coming to the Bay State, one way or another. He was quoted as saying:

"One of the points we’ve been making to our partners in the Legislature is we can either help set the rules or we can have this done to us, but one way or another, it’s coming," Patrick told the annual Massachusetts Governor’s Conference on Travel & Tourism... Boston Herald.

Sigh….is he kidding?! It seems that not too long ago, our Governor who believes that “yes we can..” said on a radio interview that the Mashpee Wampanoag’s could not go ahead and build a casino-resort without his and the legislatures approval. So what exactly has changed since then? Too much kool-aid and visions of dollar signs dancing in his head is my guess.

This recent scare tactic really concerns me...and the concern goes much deeper than the thought of casinos blighting our landscape and our lives. First of all….didn’t our Governor give an oath of office? I believe he did.

"I do solemnly swear and affirm, that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent on me as: according to the best of my abilities and understanding, agreeably, to the rules and regulations of the constitution, and the laws of this commonwealth -- So help me, God." – Massachusetts Governor’s Oath of Office

It seems to me that using scare tactics and making bogus and unfounded promises of enormous wealth and jobs for the state is hardly discharging and perfoming duties that uphold the rules and regulations of the constitution or the laws of the commonwealth. If he had actually done his homework (which I am sure he did) then he would know that the only way the Mashpee Wampanoag Indians are going to build a casino-resort is if he lets them! It is a lie….a scare tactic he is using to push his own agenda for his own reasons.

Liar, liar…pants on fire!! That is exactly what goes through my mind when I read or hear this Governor talk about his three casino plan and how we can either do this ourselves or have it done to us. Well, he is either a liar or is woefully underinformed. Call me crazy, but I would think that as the man who is suspose to uphold the laws of our state, he had better damned well be expertly informed about this particular train wreck.….I highly urge you to do yourself a favor and read about why casinos are not inevitable in Massachusetts. If the Governor had done his homework and was being truthful to us, then he never would have made such claims. While your at it, read about his exaggerated job numbers, and what an Indian casino might mean for our region . Oh, if you want a real good laugh, check out his vision for town infastructure improvements if he gets his millions of dollars of casino money.

Yeah...I can see why the sweet nothings aren’t working. The bottom line here is if Governor Patrick has his way, he will legalize class III gambling in this state and open the door for the Mashpee Wampanoag’s to build their monstrosity…..as a sovereign nation….you know, as “a separate country so to speak, within a country…still under Federal Government to an extent”. - Tribal Leader Shawn Hendricks

What concerns me here is the fact that the Governor wants us to believe that the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Casino is coming no matter what…..it is the same line that was fed to the residents of Middleboro this past summer by their own Board of Selectmen. One statement that sent people into a panic, divided a town, pitted neighbor against neighbor, family against family, friend against friend….and in the end? The Town voted for an agreement with the tribe out of fear, and then voted against having a casino in their town. One statement….”it is inevitable”.... forever changed for the worse a wonderful and beautiful small New England town and perhaps an entire region.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any lower or worse than that….our own governor, who we elected into office to lead and protect our state's best interests says to every single one of us the same damned thing.

- be the change you want to see in the world -