Eklutna tribe clears land on outskirts of Anchorage for what may become a tribal casino

A tribe near Anchorage has begun clearing land for the possibility that it will soon win federal approval to build a 50,000-square-foot facility with a tribal gaming operation. The casino would be the first of its kind outside Southeast Alaska.

The Native Village of Eklutna has long pursued the idea of building the gaming hall on 8 acres of land owned for generations by a family within the tribe. The parcel is in Birchwood, about 20 miles northeast of downtown Anchorage.

The project received approval from the National Indian Gaming Commission this summer, a reversal of the agency’s previous position. The project now awaits a potential federal permit from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to make way for construction, project representatives say.

The gaming hall, if approved, will contain a restaurant and electronic machines with games such as bingo, they say.

Reactions to the project have so far been mixed. The Birchwood Community Council has serious concerns though no official position yet, a representative said. At least one local business owner supports the project. The state of Alaska has previously opposed the tribe’s effort, but recently said it’s weighing the issue.

The gaming hall, if built, will be a “modest facility,” said Aaron Leggett, president of the Native Village of Eklutna.

It will not be like casinos in Las Vegas or Atlantic City, or tribal casinos in the Lower 48, he said. There won’t be games such as blackjack, craps or poker, he said.

A small section of the wooded allotment has recently been cleared and topped with gravel, in case the tribe receives the go-ahead, Leggett said. The Alaska Native allotment is located near the Birchwood Airport, off the Birchwood Spur Road and Alaska Railroad tracks. It’s located in the Municipality of Anchorage, 5 miles from the Native Village of Eklutna headquarters.

“We have started clearing a small amount of land on our proposed project site, however there are still hurdles before us in our decades-long journey to open a potential gaming hall,” Leggett said in a prepared statement by email last week. “We want to work with all stakeholders to make this potential facility a positive project in every possible way.”

It would open with perhaps 350 to 500 machines, said Anthony Marnell III, chief executive of Marnell Companies, a Las Vegas firm that works in gaming, hospitality and other industries.

A subsidiary, Marnell Gaming, has a contract with the tribal government to design, develop and manage the facility, he said.

The gaming hall could grow over time, he said. A Marnell webpage describes the tribal casino as potentially including 700 machines. The operation would be small compared to much bigger Lower 48 casinos, according to the website.

Over time, about 16,000 to 20,000 square feet of the facility will consist of gaming machines, since a restaurant will also occupy a large portion of the building, Marnell said.

Setting the stage for construction

A spokesperson for the office of Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance said last week that the office supports the tribe’s sovereignty.

Marnell said the land falls under the tribe’s jurisdiction and the purview of the federal government.

As a restricted Native allotment, the potential project site is generally not subject to Anchorage municipal zoning or other municipal approvals, according to tribal officials. But the tribe has chosen to adopt as tribal law the municipality’s building code.

“We have every intention, if approved, to work with the city and communicate with the city,” Marnell said.

If approved and built, it will be something that area residents and other Alaskans will be proud of, he said.

“It will be very well done,” he said. “It will not be loud in its physical presentation or loud in its audio presentation. It’s just going to be a very low-key building and have a lot of parking to support the inside. It should be a fun and entertaining space.”

The land-clearing that recently took place will provide space for construction trailers before winter, in the hope that work can begin next year, Marnell said. The 8 acres will eventually be cleared to support the facility, landscaping and parking, he said.

The gaming hall could provide critical revenue for the tribe, Leggett said. It will also support economic development in surrounding communities, he said.

“As a small tribe, we have struggled for decades to develop a strong tribal economy to help support our people and be an even more supportive community partner,” he said. “Our proposed gaming facility presents an important opportunity to reach these goals.”

He declined to describe the project cost, saying it’s too early to know. He said that even if all goes well, the gaming hall would not be built for at least a couple of years.

“If everything lines out and we’re not challenged in court, and we’re able to secure financing and all that, I would say we’re hopeful to see something in 2027,” he said.

Neighbors’ views on the project

Debbie Ossiander, co-chair of the Birchwood Community Council, said members of the neighborhood council have expressed deep concerns about a gaming hall in the more rural area.

“The location is absolutely horrible,” she said. “Having a casino there is ridiculous.”

But the neighborhood council doesn’t have a formal position yet, she said. It plans to vote next week on the issue, she said.

Leggett said the Birchwood area is already home to a saloon, a grocery store and other businesses.

“People are certainly entitled to their opinion,” he said. “But I think I find it a little offensive that when the original landholders of the area want to work with a Native allotment that has existed before any of the other homes that were in the area, that there’s a negative reaction to it.”

Dan Amadon, who lives in nearby Eagle River, owns and rents out several garage condos just south of where the casino would be built.

He supports the gaming hall because it would add entertainment options to help Alaska’s long winters go by, he said.

While some houses exist in the area, it largely supports industrial and commercial activity, including the airport and the railway with trains that frequently blare their horn, he said. Large tracts provide lots of distance between businesses and residential properties, he said.

“I think there’s no better place for it,” he said of the gaming hall.

New opinion sets stage for gaming hall

The facility will be limited to what’s known as Class II gaming, such as bingo, according to an ordinance from the tribe.

Class III gaming is not authorized, the ordinance says. That level of gaming includes the Las Vegas-style card and table games such as blackjack, or slot machines.

For some time, the only Class II tribally run gaming hall existed in Metlakatla in Southeast Alaska, the only Indian reservation in Alaska.

But the tribe in Klawock, also in Southeast Alaska, opened a similar gaming facility in 2022. The site is held by the federal government in a trust for the tribe, a different status than the Native allotment in Eklutna.

As for the gaming hall pursued by the Eklutna tribe, the U.S. Interior Department in 2018 concluded that the tribe did not have jurisdiction over the allotment, preventing it from being built.

In 2019, the tribe sued to overturn the decision but was not successful. The state intervened on the side of the federal government.

But early this year, Interior Solicitor Robert Anderson issued a new opinion on the legal status of Alaska Native allotments.

He found that Native allotments are presumed to fall under tribal jurisdiction unless the land is owned by a non-tribal member or geographically removed from the tribal community. A tribal community includes lands customarily and traditionally used by tribal members for subsistence activities, the opinion says.

The opinion withdrew portions of a 1993 Interior solicitor opinion that concluded that Alaska tribes do not have territorial jurisdiction over Alaska Native allotments.

Anderson wrote that the previous opinion “cannot be reconciled with subsequent case law and administrative developments.”

That opinion set the stage for the National Indian Gaming Commission to approve the gaming hall plans in July.

The tribe is now hoping for approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs in December, Leggett said.

The process involves an environmental assessment of the proposed gaming hall, Marnell said.

A public comment period could begin in October, representatives for the tribe said.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs declined to comment.

The Alaska Department of Law earlier this year expressed concern about the new legal status of Native allotments.

But officials with the department have declined to say where the agency stands on the gaming hall effort.

“We are evaluating the issue,” said Patty Sullivan, a spokesperson with the department.