online craps casinos

Cascade Locks casino hopes grow dim

Posted on January 10th, 2011

News Sponsored by Go Casino

Rated 5 Stars by crapsonline.com

Read Review

Visit Casino

Download Software

————————————————

It has been a long and exhausting battle for The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs (CTWS) who have been seeking to build an off-site casino since at the least, the year 1999. The tribe has cleared major hurdles before and has been playing the waiting game for almost a decade now. But the tribe may have to stick it out and wait a little bit more. In a statement released by the Department of Interior it has declared that the Cascade Locks Casino plans would not be approved till spring. The proposed Cascade Locks Casino, includes a 241 room hotel, a 90,000 square foot gaming casino, and a 26,000 square foot convention center. But their target location, which is somewhere near the Columbia River Gorge has raised the concern of environmentalists and nature conversationalists.

Congressman David Wu (D-Ore.) has expressed the same sentiment. “A gambling casino does not belong in any of America’s uniquely spectacular natural landscapes, and it is utterly absurd that the Bureau of Indian Affairs has recommended citing a casino in Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge,” he said. In a statement released in August of 2010, the Bureau of Indian Affairs made a final environmental impact statement in favor of the tribe. The statement, further notes that amongst five other alternatives, the Georgetown, Cascade Locks, site would be the most profitable, yet environmentally friendly. Other concerns regarding the proposed site includes, air quality and salmon habitat. Stanley “Buck” Smith, Chairman of the Warm Springs Tribal Council, said that no matter how small this victory may seem, in a tribe where unemployment is a daunting part of daily life, this latest development would surely be celebrated. But despite the tribe leaders’ confidence that a major hurdle has been surpassed, the project still has still a long way to go as the incoming governor is strongly opposed to the project.

“I am opposed to it, period,” this was incoming Gov. John Kitzhaber’s words when asked by Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association back in July. While outgoing Governor Ted Kulongski is all for the project and has declared his support for the tribe, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, still has not given his approval on it yet. In an email sent by Interior Spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff, she stated “Last year, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar instructed Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk to undertake a comprehensive review of Department of the Interior policy on the two-part determination exemption under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act for taking land into trust for gaming purposes. As part of the review, Echo Hawk held six consultation meetings with Indian leaders around the country which finished on Dec. 18, 2010.” With Kithzaber’s oath taking ceremony nearing, the tribes’ hopes grow dimmer. The shift in authority could mean that all the progress made all these years would all be for naught. The tribe could give up the Cascade Locks site and bid on a casino on reservation land close to Highway 26 or try to build their casino on tribal land.

Les Bergstein, the tribe’s consultant says that they are still hopeful Kithzaber will see things their way, have a change of heart, and approve their casino. He also added that the compact with the State of Oregon already took effect as the government did not issue a comment or a rejection. The said compact defines matters like, a state community fund for scholarships that could reach up to $850 million, a state community fund, and the specific location of the casino which is as it indicates, nowhere to be near Cascade.

If the Cascade Locks Site fails, the alternative would be to go to Hood River, as it had always been considered the spare, if the original site’s future remains bleak. “The first thing I’m going to do is have a meeting with Warm Springs to find out which way they are going to go,” says Hood River County Chairman, Ron Rivers. He added, “Part of that council wanted to move to Hood River a few months ago.” It is also very unlikely that Keithzaber would change his position in the matter. One of his major sponsors during the elections, has been the The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, operator of Spirit Mountain Casino, the tribe is also opposed to having a rival nearby.