The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs has identified a 25-acre parcel in the town of Cascade Locks in the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon as the preferred site from among the five considered for a casino by the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs.

The BIA identified the Cascade Locks site, which is located inside an industrial park, as the preferred location in a just-published final environmental impact statement released on August 6. It found that the casino would not harm air quality or fish habitat in the gorge.

The 5,000-member tribe wants to build a 90,000-square-foot casino, 241-room hotel and convention center. It would build the casino on the 25 acres it hopes to put into federal trust, and lease adjacent lands for parking and resort facilities.

It currently operates a small casino on its
reservation at Kahneeta. It has 60 percent unemployment.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar must still endorse the site and the tribe must successfully negotiate a tribal gaming compact with the state.

Outgoing Governor Ted Kulongoski signed a compact with the tribe five years ago, although it has never been ratified by the legislature. The two candidates vying to replace him both oppose off-reservation casinos. The tribe and the governor hope the process can be completed before he leaves office. At the earliest, Salazar must wait 45 days before signing off on the site.

By GGB Staff

Staff writers for Global Gaming Business magazine. Las Vegas, Nevada.