Today's student guest blog post is written by third-year law student Christopher Westby.  Here's his take on a proposal for gaming on newly acquired lands by a recently recognized tribe:

Proposed San Francisco Casino Tests Federal, State Law

The 112 member Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians has no reservation;
during the era of termination policy the federal government revoked
recognition of the tribe and transferred its lands to private owners.
The tribe regained federal recognition in 1991. Many of its members
currently still live near the former reservation in Ukiah, California.

The tribe proposes building a casino seventy-miles away from Ukiah in
Richmond, which sits on the San Francisco Bay. The Bureau of Indian
Affairs is still considering the tribe’s request to take the land, a
former Naval fuel depot, into trust.  Gov. Schwarzenegger’s office has
asked the federal government to deny the tribe’s request. The tribe
believes it is in the best interest for the state to negotiate,
however. Even if the tribe's request is denied, they say they will go
forward with a smaller Class II gaming facility that would not require
state approval.

The tribe doesn’t discuss which exemption to § 2719 of IGRA’s
prohibition against gaming on lands acquired after 1988 that they
satisfy, but restoration of lands exception would seem most applicable
since the best interest exception would require unlikely governor
approval.  Moreover, there is favorable appellate case law that reads
“restoration” expansively to include land that was not part of a
tribe’s former reservation. See City of Roseville v. Norton 348 F.3d
1020 (D.C. Cir. 2003).

Read more:
Article from the Sacramento Bee
About the Guidiville Band
City of Roseville v. Norton