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The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and its development partner EmpireResorts Inc. of Las Vegas jointly revealed on Friday that the tribefiled a lawsuit against the Department of Interior and SecretaryKempthorne and others in US District Court in New York City.Officials with the tribe promised a lawsuit would be forthcomingafter it received a letter from the Department of Interior on Jan.4 rejecting its application, killing its casino plan unless a courtor a new administration decide to reverse the ruling. TheDepartment of Interior and Secretary Kempthorne were unable to bereached for comment prior to press deadline.

Earlier this month Secretary Kempthorne sent out 11 denialletters to Indian Tribes seeking land into trust applicationapprovals for gaming facilities across the US, including threetribes in New York State--the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, theStockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe.The Stockbridge Munsee Band of Mohicans is seeking to build acasino in Sullivan County, while the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe wants tobuild a gaming facility in Cayuga County. Kempthorne denied theapplications stating that the gaming sites were too far from thetribes' respective reservations. The tribes received denial lettersauthored by Assistant Deputy Secretary of the Interior James E.Cason, who was also named in the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe's federallawsuit.