BIA OKs Oregon Indian Casino
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has approved the application by the Cowlitz Tribe for a casino resort on 152 acres near La Center, Oregon, something the tribe’s chairman called “a really great Christmas present.” The 3,700-member tribe, which has been attempting to get permission to build the casino for a decade, hopes to break ground by mid-2012.
The BIA approved putting the land into federal trust, making it into Cowlitz reservation land. The tribe is currently landless. The land it has purchased is just west of Interstate 5.
However, the tribe still must obtain funding, which is estimated to be $510 million. It is working to do that in partnership with the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, which owns the Mohegan Sun. The Mohegans have invested almost $30 million in pursuit of the project so far.
The casino resort is envisioned to have 3,000 slot machines, a hotel with eight stories, eateries, bars and retail shopping. It will be built in stages over five years.
A coalition composed of local governments, several card rooms that feel threatened by the casino, anti-casino citizen groups and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, which owns a casino in the Portland area, are all fighting the casino. Their concerns include the fear that the casino will cannibalize local businesses and demand more services than it will pay for, such as additional schools.
The city of La Center is looking at its legal options now that the BIA has approved the fee-to-trust application. The city is concerned that it will lose tax money that the card clubs now pay, but which would probably decline if the Indian casino takes away their customers. That tax revenue accounts for three quarters of the city’s $4 million budget.
