CAYUGA COUNTY, N.Y. -- New York's senior U.S. Senator is calling on the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs to throw out a "draft" statement on the impact of allowing the Cayuga Indian Nation to place 129 acres of land in Cayuga and Seneca counties into a federal trust.

Schumer says the report is seriously flawed. He continues to favor a negotiated settlement of land claims between the tribe and the two counties. The counties are holding out for a deal that allows the Cayugas a casino in the Catskills, but rejects any sovereign land locally.

Schumer says a draft version of the impact report was faulty.

"The land into trust process was designed for the great outdoors in the West, where there was lots of land and no people. And to try to graft it onto a heavily populated area, like in the East, just creates problem after problem after problem," said Schumer.

Both Seneca and Cayuga counties continue their campaigns to block any land being placed into trust for the Cayuga tribe.