The Village of Eklutna is feverishly rushing work at the site where the group plans a casino to be built this year in Anchorage. Without notification to the neighbors in Birchwood, construction has ramped up, even at night, and makeshift buildings have been moved to the site. Slot machines are sitting in wrapping material.
The Alaska Landmine was first to report this story.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs quietly gave the village a lightning speed “go-ahead” on Thursday, without announcing it publicly, and since courts are closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, no court action can be taken to stop the construction. It’s unclear how the village was able to get building, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, fire code, and other permits in one day when even for a small residential home it takes weeks or months.
“On January 16, 2025, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) signed a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and issued a Final Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Eklutna Native Village (Tribe) Gaming Facility Project. The Final EA was completed in accordance with requirements set forth in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 United States Code [USC] §4321 et seq.), the 2024 Council on Environmental Quality regulations for Implementing NEPA (40 CFR § 1500 et seq.), and the BIA NEPA Handbook (59 Indian Affairs Manual 3-H), and assesses the environmental impacts that could result from the BIA’s approval of a business lease between the Native Allotment landowners and the Eklutna Native Village tribal government for the development and operation of a class II gaming facility (Proposed Action). The Project Site is located in the unincorporated community of Chugiak within the boundaries of the Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska,” the decision said, listing Chugiak inaccurately.
Eight residents nearby in Birchwood filed a lawsuit in December challenging the approval of the casino and the work being done this weekend appears to be an attempt to “grandfather” in the major development by being able to show the court that the casino was operational before the new administration could stall the controversial ruling.
The Native Village of Eklutna is in partnership with Marnell Gaming of Las Vegas, one of the major casino companies in the world. Marnell plans to build and operate the casino for the village, which is inside the municipality of Anchorage.
It becomes more clear why Mayor Suzanne LaFrance on Jan. 3 issued a letter of support for the casino to the BIA. She appears to have known about the plan to move ahead with work and start a casino operating in the city next week, in temporary trailers. The public comment period ended Jan. 9, and the decision by the BIA came just one week later, which may set a land record for speed on an environmental impact decision from the federal government.
The mayor, who appears to have secretly coordinate the work without including the community of Birchwood or notifying the Birchwood Community Council, is allowing the construction to violate the city’s noise ordinance, which says construction noise is permitted between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with even more limitations on Sundays and holidays.
Convene a court today and issue a stop order.
Don’t worry about it…
DiAngelo knows a guy
who knows a guy…
Where are the environmentalists? Shouldn’t they be stopping this? It’s tearing up the environment.
It is indeed tearing up the environment, as the stupid Eklutna natives building this atrocity are doing so on a six acre parcel which IN NO WAY can handle, either with a water well or a septic field, many hundreds of people per day (visitors and workers both). And they are building with only a 25 foot setback from Peters Creek, in violation of area building codes.
Moreover, not only are they tearing up the environment, they are tearing up the NEIGHBORHOOD! This is not on some large and isolated lot, but on a tiny parcel that is cheek-by-jowl with multiple residential homes. It is an extreme travesty, and merely indicative of the extreme corruption and bad faith on the part of the Eklutna natives and/or their financial puppetmasters.
My contempt for the village of Eklutna, and for Eklutna Corporation, could not be greater.
Can you imagine if the roles were reversed?
White people building a “den of thieves” in a native community.
Wed never heard the end of it…
It would be unfortunate if a petition to recall the Mayor was started over her inability or refusal to enforce the law.
Prostitutes, organized crime, and poverty are the hallmarks of casinos around the world. And the public sector unions benefit the most from hookers, single moms, addiction, homelessness, and poverty. You go girl! Time to repay those donors and destroy society.
Disgusting. Gambling is illegal in Alaska and any ‘sovereign nation’ should not be exempt from the laws of the state they reside in. That is wrong. Then add in the vice itself. Gambling preys on those without self control and ruins peoples lives. It leads to addiction, destroys families, increases other addictions such as alcoholism, increases crime, to mention only some of the fallout. It is not right that our state has a law against it yet a small group of people are just allowed to ignore that law and trample on neighbors, community and state.
Anchorage has a terrible homeless problem based on alcohol, drugs, and mental illness.
I know – let’s add gambling to the mix of vices!!!
Where’s Dunleavy?
Where’s any Alaska politician?
Fast tracking of permits – CORRUPTION!…
Hats off to the Eklutna tribe for trying. I’m sure the construction will suck for neighbors and they should pay for their own road, But at this point, any economic development is good development for Alaska. I know this goes against the notion that Natives must remain in poverty. Sometimes, people, especially in the context of Western media, depict Indigenous communities as noble, simplistic, or closer to nature, often romanticizing poverty or struggle as a form of purity or moral high ground. Them Native folks have the same right to prosperity as everyone else.
My question is why they didn’t build in their Village? It is right off the Glenn, and wouldn’t disrupt an entire residential area.
Natives in Alaska are not sovereign as they are on reservations in the Lower 48. Gambling is illegal in Alaska. Nobody is saying Natives should be poor, that’s why the own land given be ANICLA. Natives do have to follow state law just like everyone else.
Both the Native Village of Eklutna, and Eklutna Corporation, are nothing but an abusive, bullying, and misanthropic blight on the Birchwood/Chugiak/Peters Creek community. NOTHING that they do, and have done in this area, has been good for the community at large. ALL they know how to do is take, take, take, whether it is the vast flood of government handouts, or purely extractive operations like gravel mining and now gambling.
I hate everything and everyone having to do with that damned village of Eklutna! They are the nightmare neighbor that nobody wishes they had.
Unless there is some financial benefit to her, which would surprise no one, she may regret this decision as the tradeoff in votes will likely work to her disadvantage. The total of Eklutna voters vs the impacted community does not bode well for her. The exodus will continue.
Respectfully disagree, Dave.
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What we see here looks like the next logical step up from the LaFrance mob’s ongoing seizures of private property for their “trails” program.
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The Lafrance mob do this, in our non-humble opinion, because they don’t care what impacted communities think, at least until Eaglexit and an 80’s style exodus crank up.
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Right now, they don’t have to care what impacted communities think because Anchorage’s easily corrupted election system insulates them from angry voters.
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Watch for financial benefit, payoff some might cynically suggest, in the form of future-governor or Murkowski-replacement LaFrance.
It is amazing how a butt load of money can magically cut red tape! To those whom believe casinos can be a good thing for the community economy… be warned. If Martell and the city assembly is willing to corrupt the process at these beginning stages… image what they will do once their foot is firmly in the door. I was on the fence about whether a casino was a boon or curse… but this tells me everything I need to know.
Due to Guv’ment malpractice // impropriety, looks like we’re going to get a Casino. Now, how can we best benefit // profit “personally” from this???
Easy: cease and desist motion to get an order from the judge pending lawsuit.
Just file it.
Well, isn’t that just special???
This is just more of the “pay your taxes and shut up” that LaFrance and the assembly has been in favor of for the last 8-12 years.
Corruption on parade.
More corruption and ineptitude by natives – encouraged by progressive white liberals.
This’ll be something they blame the “white man” for in coming years.
This kind of “stuff” is starting to become comical – like the political leadership in California.
Losers all around. BIA losers giving whatever the natives want like a spoil child. Anchorage now will have more addicts to gambling and broken family. The state gets nothing out of this other than kow-towing to another corporation (natives notwithstanding)
I wonder how many who support this last minute overnight construction would support the same thing for oil and gas development, certainly Mayor LeFrance would.
These people really are severly Mentally ill, so now let’s just bring in some old Mobile homes and containers and bolt them all together like the tribes did in Manson(Chelan) Washington 40’years ago , just so they can get their illegal pyramid scheme off the ground and running so they can start sucking in some revenue, so maybe later they might have the Cash to build on and expand. This entire project is obviously corrupt as hell and has a small syndicate of people trying to get wealthy off the low income and those who already have free money coming in from the state and federal government !! This casino is going to be one big ugly trap for people who allready have other addictions they can’t control, Anyone who is for this is probably in on the scheme, what a joke lol, so all let’s just string out the harbor freight power cords and ship up all the old machines from nevada , I’m sure their willing to ship them all up for free for a percentage of the take lol. This is going to be a total dive just like the casinos in Washington state still are today,
even after decades of tribal management lol!! This is One big huge mistake if this is allowed to go forward ! I’ll Guarentee The Machines and tables will all be old Rinkyb dink hand me downs from Fitzgeralds or other old Casinos in Reno or Vegas that have been in a warehouse for a decades, so you all better do some research on how this all works people!
DM, everything you say is true, but what is being overlooked here is the tremendously negative impact that this misbegotten casino is going to have on the neighborhood and the community — MY neighborhood, as it so happens. Not only is this going to utterly destroy the quality of life and property values of its immediate and near neighbors, but Birchwood Loop Road, which is the only possible access route to this casino, is in no way built to handle the more than doubled traffic that they are (conservatively) projecting it to generate. And Birchwood Loop Road, which has no shoulders at all, and is winding and dark at night, cannot realistically be widened, due to the very narrow or nonexistent right-of-way along it.
This entire project is going to be a nightmare and a fiasco for EVERYONE in my area, and for the municipality as a whole, except perhaps for the short-sighted, greedy, hateful and corrupt Eklutna natives.
Jefferson the NIMBY. Did you or DM even bother to google Marnell? I have no idea what they plan to build. I am pretty sure someone with this background does not want his name on a trailer
Mr. Marnell II’s 50-year journey into architecture and construction began as the son of an Italian masonry contractor at a young age. His early experiences working alongside his father instilled a rebellious spirit against traditional design, a trait that would later define his innovative approach in the industry. This spirit, coupled with his B.A. in architecture from the University of Southern California and mentorship under architect Alfred Caldwell, led to a professional journey that included stints at Moffett & McDaniel Architects and Zuni Construction Company.
As far as LaFrance, what mayor says no to the Bellagio coming to their city.
Compare this to Pebble Mine approvals and denials. Huh.
They couldn’t keep an espresso stand open out there!!! I tried to help them properly set it up. What a waste of my time. They closed it up pretty damn quick because no one would show up to work 🥃 🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃
LaFr is on the take?!
I’m not an attorney but I’d join a class action suit as an Alaskan to stop this casino, and any others in the state. Maybe Eklutna has chosen this especially inappropriate location to minimize opposition if/when they move to the larger land parcel – maybe it’s to facilitate a casino in another location. Regardless, once we allow casinos, AK will be lost and it’s all going downhill fast. We need to oppose this at the state level. How can we oppose this effectively?