Nearly two years ago, the Department of the Interior rejected a proposal by Jemez Pueblo to build a casino resort south of Las Cruces, saying that the project, almost 300 miles from the pueblo, was too far away to provide jobs for tribal members.

That decision seemingly ended the plans for the casino, in which Santa Fe businessman Gerald Peters was a major investor.

But recently the Interior Department has been taking a second look at the restrictions on off-reservation Indian gaming. And a spokeswoman for Peters said in a recent interview that if that happens, the plans for the casino near Anthony, N.M., could be revived.

George Skibine, a deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, recently was quoted in a Wall Street Journal online article saying, "It's an important issue. It's a controversial issue and they're rethinking it."

BIA spokesman Gary Garrison told The New Mexican last week that the Interior Department currently is reviewing all policies and directives instituted by the Bush administration. No decision, he said, has been made about the off-reservation gaming rule, which requires any off-reservation casino site to be within commuting distance of the reservation making the request.

"We'll be waiting to see if the Obama administration makes any favorable changes," said Peters' spokeswoman, Denise Greenlaw Ramonas. The project would be helpful to the financially strapped state government, she added. Because of the location of the proposed casino, she said, "About 80 percent of the business would come from Texans."

Under the tribal gambling compacts approved in 2007, tribes are required to pay the state up to 9.75 percent of their slot machine take.

Ramonas said the project as planned would create 150 jobs at the site.

"I hope they change (the decision)," she said. "We'll see."

The pueblo had applied for nearly 79 acres near Anthony off Interstate 10 to be taken into trust for the pueblo to build a resort and casino. Jemez leaders argued that their pueblo is too far from major population centers in the state and faced too much competition from existing casinos in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe areas.

Jemez officials said they were counting on casino revenue, not the jobs, to benefit their members. Pueblo Gov. Paul Chinana argued that the gaming revenue would help fund a pueblo job training program.

In rejecting the Jemez proposal, the Interior Department argued the Anthony casino could encourage tribal members to leave Jemez for jobs at the casino, causing "serious and far-reaching implications for the remaining tribal community and its continuity."

The New Mexico Indian Gaming Association initially opposed the Jemez Pueblo proposal. The group in 2005 said it didn't object to a tribe entering into gambling or seeking ways to expand economic development. But the association was against any proposal for off-reservation gaming in the state.

Asked last week if the group was against the government changing the restriction, association chairman Charlie Dorame said, "We haven't sat down and consulted with the new administration." About a dozen New Mexico tribes already operate casinos.

The Jemez plans were opposed by Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino. Owner Stanley Fulton, who had willed half the interest in the racetrack to New Mexico State University, changed his will after the Anthony project was proposed, so his gift would be revoked if New Mexico approves any casino within 50 miles of Sunland Park.

New Mexico's Congress members contacted last week didn't seem eager to take a stand for or against the proposed changed.

"The Interior Department hasn't notified me of any changes in policy," said Congressman Harry Teague, whose Southern New Mexico district includes the land near Anthony where Jemez Pueblo proposed the casino.

"If the Interior Department were to make a change in policy, I would hope that the community in Anthony would be involved to the full extent possible in a fair and open application process," Teague said through a spokeswoman.

In 2005, the Doña Ana County Commission voted 3-2 to support the proposed casino. However, several state legislators from the area asked the Interior Department to reject it.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Interior Department, said in a written statement, "The Interior Department has not contacted me to say it is revisiting the current policy. As far as I know right now, there are no plans to move ahead with changes."

A spokeswoman for Sen. Tom Udall said in an e-mail, "Since the Bush Administration first proposed changes to these regulations at the Department of Interior, Senator Udall has said that every tribe should be subject to the same rules and be treated in an equitable and fair manner. The senator also acknowledges that during this difficult economic climate, Jemez Pueblo is trying to take creative steps toward economic development despite their geographic limitations. While these regulations are determined and set by the executive branch, Sen. Udall will closely follow any developments from the Obama administration and hopes that any potential changes reflect perspectives from across the country."

Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.