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GOA/RCED-00-11R 1 (1999-10-01)

handle is hein.gao/gaobacnkm0001 and id is 1 raw text is: & GAO .Accontabiity * tagnty - Reliablity United States General Accounting Office Resources, Conununity, and Washington, DC 20548 Economic Development Division B-283635 October 1, 1999 The Honorable Ben Nighthorse Campbell Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs United States Senate Subject: Indian Gaming Regulatory Act: Land Acquired for Gaming After the Act's Passage Dear Mr. Chairmar: The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (the act) provides the statutory basis for the operation and regulation of certain gaming activities on Indian lands.' The act generally prohibits gaming activities on Indian trust lands acquired by the Secretary of the Interior after October 17, 1988, the date the act was signed into law. Trust lands are those whose legal title is held by the federal goverrnent in trust for Indian tribes or individuals. The act does, however, provide several exceptions that allow gaming on lands acquired in trust after its enactment. You asked that we determine whether the Office of Indian Gaming within the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has a complete list of parcels acquired in trust for Indian gaming after the act was enacted. To do this, we reviewed a list of parcels acquired for gaming provided by the Office and interviewed BIA officials. Results in Brief A complete list of lands acquired for gaming after the act's passage is not readily available. BIA's Office of Indian Gaming identified 18 parcels of land, totaling about 1,800 acres, that were acquired after the act's passage and received the Office's approval for gaming purposes. These approvals were granted between March 1990 and August 1999 for 17 different tribes in 10 states. This list does not, however, represent a complete list of parcels acquired after the act's passage on which gaming is occurring. According to BIA regional officials, at least one parcel was acquired after the act was signed into law on October 17, 1988, and before the Office was created on an interim basis in 1990.' In addition, some tribes have acquired land for nongaming purposes and have later decided to use that land for gaming. If the land converted to gaming uses is off-reservation, the conversion has to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior.? According to Office officials, only acquisitions that have been approved by the Office or the Secretary are on its list. '25 U.S.C. 2701 e.am. (1994). 'According to one of its officials, the Office was created on an interim basis in 1990. It became permanent in 1992, when the Secretary created an executive position to oversee its operations. 'Throughout this report, the term off-reservation will refer to lands that are not (1) within or contiguous to a tribe's reservation; (2) for a tribe that had no reservation on October 17, 1988, within the tribe's former or last recognized reservation or contiguous to trust or restricted lands in Oklahoma; or (3) part of the settlement of a land claim, part of an initial reservation of an acknowledged tribe, or part of the restoration of lands for a tribe restored to federal recognition. GAO/RCED-00-11R Land Acquired for Indian Gaming

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