Legal wrangling over whether the proposed Cowlitz mega-casino and resort will be built at the Interstate 5-La Center junction continued this week with federal attorneys producing a supplemental Record of Decision (ROD).
The attorneys are defending the federal government in a lawsuit brought in January 2011 by Citizens Against Reservation Shopping (CARS), Clark County, the City of Vancouver, the owners of the La Center cardrooms and local property owners, who are protesting the original decision, which was issued in December 2010. It said the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) would take 152 acres at the Interstate 5-La Center junction into trust for the Tribe’s proposed mega-casino and resort.
The case is being considered in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
Earlier this year, the federal attorneys discovered the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) had either overlooked or lost several key documents submitted by CARS and other local casino opponents when it crafted the initial reservation opinion, a key part of the ROD. The missing documents questioned the Cowlitz Tribe’s historical connection to the proposed casino site near La Center, which is among the criteria the Tribe must satisfy to qualify for an initial reservation and a casino.
The federal attorneys requested a halt in the proceedings to reconsider the Cowlitz Tribe’s reservation determination, but the judge denied the request and gave the federal government until Oct. 5—today—to determine whether it would proceed with the case or withdraw DOI’s original 2010 decision.
Instead, the federal attorneys filed the supplemental ROD, which says it considers the opposition documents and reaches the same conclusion as the original.
No reaction, as yet, from the judge.
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For more information, check out the CARS Web site:
Who’s behind the proposed casino project?
Many of CARS’ stories about this casino proposal describe it as the work of “the Cowlitz Tribe.” But every time we attribute it to “the Tribe,” we wince.
The casino project is being driven by the Salishan-Mohegan partnership, which includes:
+ the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority (49.15 percent)
+ David Barnett (Salishan Co.), son of the late tribal Chairman John Barnett (sharing 43 percent with the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians)
+ the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians, California (sharing 43 percent with David Barnett)
+ the Mohegan Tribe, Connecticut (7.85 percent)
According to the development agreement, the partnership would receive fees equal to 3 percent of total project costs. The management agreement states that Salishan-Mohegan would manage, operate and maintain the casino-resort for seven years and earn 24 percent of annual net revenues.
We want to be clear: CARS is critical of the casino proposal and the way it has been pursued. Beyond its involvement in the casino, we have no issue with the Cowlitz Tribe.
The casino project is being driven by the Salishan-Mohegan partnership, which includes:
+ the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority (49.15 percent)
+ David Barnett (Salishan Co.), son of the late tribal Chairman John Barnett (sharing 43 percent with the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians)
+ the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians, California (sharing 43 percent with David Barnett)
+ the Mohegan Tribe, Connecticut (7.85 percent)
According to the development agreement, the partnership would receive fees equal to 3 percent of total project costs. The management agreement states that Salishan-Mohegan would manage, operate and maintain the casino-resort for seven years and earn 24 percent of annual net revenues.
We want to be clear: CARS is critical of the casino proposal and the way it has been pursued. Beyond its involvement in the casino, we have no issue with the Cowlitz Tribe.
About CARS
Citizens Against Reservation Shopping (CARS) is a group of Clark County, Wash., citizens formed in June 2005 and led by longtime Vancouver businessman and civic leader Edward Lynch.
CARS opposes the Cowlitz Tribe's plan to build a casino in Clark County in part because it objects to the practice of "reservation shopping." This is the practice of selecting an ideal casino site and then working to have it given reservation status.