As the deadline nears for submitting comments on the Cayuga Nation's land trust application, we're concerned that we haven't yet heard from U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs is accepting comments on a Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the Cayuga's request to put 130 acres of land into tax-free trust.

The impact statement indicates that Cayuga and Seneca counties might benefit from salaries generated by gaming facilities, but many people in this area - including nearly every politician we can think of - has come out against the plan, arguing that the feds are overlooking the loss of property taxes from any acres placed into trust and the loss of sales taxes from businesses that will find it impossible to compete with tax-exempt Nation enterprises.

At a June 17 public hearing on the proposal, a member of Gillibrand's staff said that her office was still gathering information on the trust application and that Gillibrand hadn't yet taken a stance on it.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer was in Auburn this week, strongly re-stating his position that the BIA report significantly downplays the potential negative impacts of putting Cayuga and Seneca lands into federal trust.

We agree that the draft impact statement is flawed, and we oppose the trust application.

We encourage Gillibrand to come out against it, too, but regardless of what her views are, she needs to make them known.

This is a federal issue, and we expect our federal representatives to weigh in on it.

We called Gillibrand's office Tuesday to inquire whether she had yet formed an opinion on the matter, but she never got back to us.

The 45-day comment period ends July 6. Gillibrand needs to let the federal government - and the people she represents - know where she stands.