BIA to release Cowlitz casino EIS

The Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Cowlitz casino will be published tomorrow in the Federal Register, according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

Publication of the document will be followed by a 30-day comment period ending July 1, 2008. A decision on the project could come as soon as July 1, although that is not expected. The preferred alternative described in the Final EIS is the outcome sought by the tribe: to acquire 152 acres owned by Salishan-Mohegan at the Interstate 5 La Center interchange, declare it a reservation and establish a Las Vegas-style gambling center.

The release of the Final EIS is only a procedural step and the project remains far from approval.

The EIS is part of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, but that is not the only process involved in a tribal casino application. For example, a parcel would need to be declared "Indian lands" before the project could commence, and BIA has yet to accept the "restored lands" recommendation issued by the National Indian Gaming Commission in November 2005.

Unless the Final EIS has undergone a tremendous amount of new research and revision, the document will remain a liability for the Cowlitz casino proposal. The preliminary Final EIS, released in March 2007 to the county, local cities and other cooperating agencies, was excoriated by local agencies. Officials familiar with these kinds of environmental reviews were unanimous in their criticism of the Cowlitz EIS. Their comments, submitted in April 2007, include:

• The City of Vancouver's criticism that the Final EIS "remains fatally flawed from the start because of its failure to consider alternative sites to the north for Cowlitz gaming which are closer to the center of the tribal population."
• The City of La Center's indignation that the document said the proposed casino would have a "less than significant" impact on the city's socioeconomics -- despite the fact that it would cause a 66 percent loss in revenue to the city.
• Clark County's observation that transportation models used to draw conclusions in the preliminary Final EIS were not provided and that models used in the Draft EIS were "found to have significant errors in model inputs, and model methodology."

CARS Chairman, Ed Lynch is taking a wait-and-see attitude. "Unless there has been a total overhaul of this work since we last saw it," he said, "the EIS remains in serious trouble."

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Read the BIA notice, including information on where to get the Final EIS and how to comment on it.

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Read Vancouver's comments on the preliminary Final EIS (April 23, 2007).

Read La Center's comments on the preliminary Final EIS (April 23, 2007).

Read Clark County's comments on the preliminary Final EIS (April 19, 2007).

County consults feds on MOU

When CARS spoke in December with George Skibine in the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, he told us that the Cowlitz Tribe's lack of a valid Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Clark County concerned his department. He added that the lack of an MOU "could potentially be a deal breaker" for the tribe's casino application.

That is one of the reasons CARS has encouraged the county commissioners to: a) not resurrect the 2004 MOU, which was twice declared invalid; and b) not negotiate a new one.

We're pleased to hear the commissioners have decided to write Skibine and ask him about the importance of an MOU with the county and whether its absence could kill this deal. It is quite likely they will not receive a cut and dried response, but at least they are pursuing the answer to an important question.

Read the Columbian article "Commissioners: Can we kill casino?" and editorial "In our view: Maybe, probably."

WA tribe torn apart -- banished chairman cites 'casino greed'

As the Cowlitz Tribe attempts to locate a casino in Clark County, another Washington tribe is being torn apart by what its recently banished chairman calls "casino greed."

A recent Seattle Times article portrays the Snoqualmie Tribe as having broken down into "battling factions." It says, "At stake are control of the tribal government and what promises to be one of the most lucrative casinos in the state, scheduled to open in November."

The now-banished vice chairwoman of the Snoqualmie Tribe is quoted as saying, "We have reduced the Native American tribes to social clubs where they can just eliminate members at will. If they can't show they have due process, I don't think they should be allowed to have these casinos."

Some governments in Clark County have been asked to negotiate agreements with the Cowlitz Tribe. The stability of tribal governments -- and their agreements -- should be given careful consideration.

Read the story, "Snoqualmies banish eight, disenroll 60."