Casino could harm St. Croix River.

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A casino proposed near Minneapolis-St. Paul will likely bring a damaging increase in traffic and development to the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, along the Minnesota-Wisconsin border.

Along with three bands of St. Croix Chippewa, a Florida corporation plans to build a Las Vegas-style casino on a portion of its foundering dog track near Hudson, Wisconsin, about 20 miles east of the heart of the Twin Cities. In addition, local landowners may try to get the area north of the site rezoned for commercial development in anticipation of the casino's success.

A local city planner agrees with NPCA that ancillary development will probably occur if the casino is built, citing as an example the increasing development surrounding another casino in Turde Lake, Wisconsin. Sue Jennings, resource management specialist at the park, has also indicated that the casino might bring an increase in boat traffic and riverboat gaming.

"Anything that will bring added development is a threat to the St. Croix," said Lori Nelson, NPCA Heartland regional director. "If the casino becomes a big business, additional traffic will come from the Twin Cities and with it air and water pollution."

The casino would be located about a mile from Lake St. Croix, the wider lower section of the riverway, which offers some of the least disturbed scenery in the country. Lake St. Croix flows along the most developed section of the riverway and is already teeming with recreational users.

The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, of 1988 requires that, for the casino to be approved, the state and the tribe must agree to a compact to decide how to manage it. Also, since the casino would not be on Native land, the Interior Department, which has jurisdiction over Indian affairs, would have to place the land "in trust" for the tribe or give it reservation status. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt would have to determine that gaming would not be detrimental to the Chippewa or the St. Croix riverway and its users.

Although the casino has received preliminary approval from the regional office of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson has opposed the plan. The governor's press office says he is maintaining that there is "already enough gambling in Wisconsin." Babbitt has supported Thompson's view.

However, if the state does not enter into a compact, under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act the tribe can file a lawsuit. The court may then force negotiations. The Secretary of the Interior has final approval authority over the compact. Previous lawsuits have ended in favor of the tribes.

Write to Governor Thompson and Secretary Babbitt, asking them to maintain their opposition to the casino at all costs and emphasizing the impacts of ancillary development on the St. Croix. Urge Thompson not to enter into a compact to allow such development and urge Babbitt not to approve the proposal should it come to his desk. Write to: Gov. Tommy G. Thompson, State Capitol, Madison, WI 53707; Sec. Bruce Babbitt, Department of the Interior, 18th and C Streets, N. W., Washington, DC 20240.

PHOTO (COLOR): The clear waters of St. Croix National Scenic Riverway are at risk from a casino.