ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A federal judge has rejected a challenge to the U.S. Interior Department's decision to put more than 13,000 acres for the Oneida Indian Nation in trust and exempt from state and local taxes.

Judge Lawrence Kahn says the land around the Oneidas' Turning Stone Casino, including gas stations and golf courses, were re-acquired by the tribe two centuries after they last possessed it.

Kahn says the Interior Department decision in 2008 to put in trust most of roughly 17,000 acres proposed by the Oneida Indian Nation in Madison and Oneida counties didn't exceed the department's authority under the federal law intended to enable tribes to adapt to modern society.

Upstate Citizens for Equality, which filed the lawsuit, didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.

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