Utica, New York (AP)

A new plan offered during December would have the Oneida Indian Nation put just its casino, housing and cultural buildings into federal trust.

Officials from Madison and Oneida counties offered the proposal to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs during a public hearing on the tribe’s application to put 17,370 acres into federal trust.

Under the counties’ proposal, the tribe would put its Turning Stone Resort and Casino and its housing and cultural buildings into federal trust, which cover about 1,030 acres, said Rocky DiVeronica, chairman of the Madison County Board of Supervisors.

The Oneidas also would have to agree to pay all taxes on land not in trust, resolve disputes over taxes on gasoline and cigarettes, work out a new compact to keep the Turning Stone Casino open, and drop a 250,000-acre land claim.

“We feel that it fits the needs of the Oneida Indian Nation and fits the needs of Oneida and Madison counties,” DiVeronica said. “We’re hoping they agree with this proposal and get this thing over with.”

Nation spokesman Mary Emery declined to comment about the new proposal.

The nation has asked that all of its 17,370 acres in the two counties be placed into trust. Both the BIA and the U.S. Department of the Interior must approve the application, which would make the land exempt from state and local taxes and regulations.

The hearing came two weeks after release of a BIA draft environmental impact statement on the Oneida’s application. The report presented seven alternatives, ranging from placing 35,000 acres into trust to putting no land into trust.

The BIA said it did not consider among its alternatives the possibility of a negotiated settlement, listing it among a group of options it deemed “impractical, unreasonable, infeasible or too speculative to warrant analysis.”

However, many local government officials have opposed the land-into-trust plan and instead are pushing for a return to the negotiating table.

“A locally negotiated settlement is the only way we will be able to address taxation issues, reduce (jurisdictional) checker-boarding and preserve the thousands of jobs that may be at stake,” said state Sen. David Valesky of Oneida.

David Vickers is president of Upstate Citizens for Equality, which opposes the land-into-trust plan.

“What’s at stake here is the continuing integrity of New York State,” he said. If the Oneidas’ land goes into trust, it’s impossible to know what legal codes they will implement or whether they will be compatible with New York’s laws, he said.