Tribe votes to move forward with a Shullsburg Casino project

In a special referendum on Wednesday, September 19, 2012, members of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians voted decisively to move forward with the trust land application for an off-reservation gaming facility in Shullsburg, Wisconsin. The official ballot question was: Do you approve of putting the Shullsburg land into trust for gaming?

The vote was 217 in support of the question and 141 opposed. Turnout was termed as "average" by election officials. The inclement weather may have played a factor.

A Shullsburg casino application had previously been submitted by the Tribe in 2003 and subsequently denied. A formal working group has been studying the feasibility of a new application because of changes in the approval process at the Bureau of Indian Affairs. There remains continued support for a project by the citizens of Shullsburg.

Chairman Tom Maulson thanked the voters and renewed the Council's pledge for open government. "We are committed to transparency and will follow the mandate of the people, " he explained, "and the people have told us to move forward." "I want to thank all of you for coming out to vote today. Now we have work to do."

Project Work Group Lead Duane Chapman commented that he was glad to be moving forward. "One thing that we learned while preparing for the referendum was just how big a challenge this will be." "I am glad that we can get moving," said Chapman. "The next steps in the process will be re-commissioning the work on the Environmental Impact Study and redoing the application." " We've also got to get together with Mayor Lethlean and Shullsburg," he added.

The Work Group will immediately resume their weekly meetings on Friday . Periodic project updates will appear on the Tribal website at ldftribe.com, click on the Shullsburg link.