BUFFALO - A judge said federal officials should enforce his decision that casino gambling is not legal on land the Seneca Indians bought in Buffalo, but he stopped short of saying a casino already operating there should be shut down.

U.S. District Judge William Skretny's ruling Tuesday leaves the question of how to address the earlier decision up to the National Indian Gaming Commission. The commission might choose to issue a fine, temporarily close the casino or take some other action.

A group of gambling opponents had asked Skretny to order the casino immediately closed to comply with his ruling in July. In that decision, Skretny said that while the purchased land qualifies as sovereign territory, it's not eligible for gambling because it was not acquired as part of a land claim.

Skretny, however, said the opponents' request for a permanent shutdown of the casino was “overbroad” under the federal laws governing Indian gaming.

“Congress did give the chairman and the commission discretion, within the (Indian Gaming Regulatory Act's) remedial framework to determine what type of enforcement action is appropriate under the circumstances of a particular violation or substantial violation,” he wrote. “Thus, plaintiffs' request that the court give effect to its July 8, 2008 decision by directing the chairman to take specific enforcement action is not in accord with the IGRA's remedial scheme.”

“I'm pleased at what appears to be the meaning and tone of the ruling,” said Joel Rose, co-chairman of Citizens Against Casino Gambling in Erie County. The group is among several working to shut down the temporary casino operating on the nine-acre site near downtown and to prevent a larger, permanent casino from opening.

Work on the $330 million casino-hotel complex is well under way at the site, with steel framing rising several stories and cranes and crews forging ahead despite the legal wrangling.

Seneca leaders were unfazed by Skretny's ruling, saying they expect the U.S. government, which oversees Indian affairs, to appeal it on the Senecas' behalf.

The Senecas, as a sovereign nation, are not parties in the legal action but have filed motions as friends of the court.

“This is a lengthy and involved process and we are a patient people who have lived on our native land for hundreds of years,” Seneca President Maurice John Sr. said in a statement. “We remain optimistic that we will prevail on appeal.”

NIGC spokesman Shawn Pensoneau said Skretny's decision was under review and no decision had been made on whether to appeal or enforce it - and if so, how.

Skretny's decision also denied a request by the U.S. government to let the NIGC reconsider the broader question of whether casino gambling in Buffalo is legal, a request the Senecas had supported.

“In any high-stakes case with this many moving parts, we expect disagreement,” said Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe, the Senecas' chief legal consultant. “The decision you want to be in your favor is the final one. We'll get there.”

Along with the small temporary casino, the Senecas operate two successful casinos in Niagara Falls and on reservation land in Cattaraugus County. The Buffalo casino is the third and final one allowed under a 2002 agreement with the state that requires the tribe to share a percentage of slot machine revenue with the state and host communities.

The Senecas initially planned a $125 million casino in Buffalo but last year expanded plans to include a 22-story luxury hotel, three-acre public park and an artificial creek. Skretny's ruling does not prevent the Senecas from developing the site with something other than a casino.

The Seneca Nation has said its gambling operations employ more than 5,000 people in western New York.