Siskiyou County Supervisor District 5, Marcia Armstrong
Pioneer Press - December 9, 2005
"(This) could have impacts on the Upper Basin. If the Karuk have more
resources, they will most certainly use them and not in your favor."
Marcia
The Karuk tribe recently briefed the Board of Supervisors about progress on
their plans to build a casino in Yreka on the ridge behind the fairgrounds. The
Indian Gaming Commission made a negative determination that the land, which was
taken into federal trust for housing, qualified for reservation gaming. The
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) requires that land proposed for gaming be
taken into trust prior to October 17, 1988. The area in question missed that
mark by about six months.
There are also questions about whether the land is within original Karuk tribal
territory. Currently, the Karuk have no reservation, only land in trust for
housing. Their primary center of government is in Orleans, way down the Klamath
River. The Shasta Nation claims most of Siskiyou County, including Yreka, as
tribal territory. The Karuk tribe has commissioned an ethnographic study to show
that there was dominant Karuk presence in the Yreka area at the Indian census in
1910. (The Shasta Nation claims that tribal boundaries were ultimately set in
1852.) With this information, they will go forward with an appeal to the
Commission's prior eligibility determination. They claim to have the backing of
the "Shasta tribe," which is another group separate from the Shasta
Nation. (Neither Shasta group has received official federal recognition.)
To make things even more confusing, the Karuk tribal attorney has indicated that
he believes that the individual allotment land being planned for casino
development by the Alturas tribe south of Yreka is of a type ineligible for a
casino.
On a separate track, the Karuk tribe has also approached the Governor to secure
his blessing for an "off-reservation" casino under IGRA Section 20.
Governor Schwarzenegger 's policy for approval of off-reservation casinos
requires that they meet three criteria: (1) The site will not be located in any
of the 200 urban areas he has listed (Yreka is not on the list);
(2) That there is a "local expression," such as an advisory vote of
the local population, in favor of the casino; and (3) That a certain percentage
of the casino proceeds be dedicated to one of several "public policy
objectives." The Yreka City Council has indicated that they are opposed to
any voting process. The Governor has indicated that he will accept a scientific
poll instead. It is not clear at this point who will be polled and within what
distance from the proposed casino.
The Karuk presentation to the Board of Supervisors centered around their
proposal to dedicate casino proceeds to their own tribal Department of Natural
Resources to fulfill public policy objectives of "the environment."
The Karuk wish to substantially fund a continuation of their work in restoring
and preserving the health of the Klamath River. The proposal heralds their
ongoing efforts to aggressively combat the effects of hydropower dams,
pollutants from agriculture, logging and mining and other water quality and flow
issues. Further, the Karuk propose to specifically dedicate a portion of their
casino revenue to a Dam Decommissioning Fund to "assist local communities
affected by future dam decommissionings."
It should be noted that the Karuk tribe has an extensive history of engaging in
lawsuits to curtail the use of natural resources by local farmers, ranchers,
loggers and miners. Their position on issues has quite often been at odds with
that of the County Board of Supervisors. Personally, I have some real concerns
about whether the money will be used in the "public interest." I do
not feel that fueling of further adversarial action against non-tribal interests
would be beneficial to the community and the local economy.
At this point, the casino proposal by the Karuk is very sketchy on details.
There were only four short paragraphs in the written document. They have
determined the proposed site, access through Sharps Road, that they plan to
start with 500-600 machines, that the casino will be from 50-60,000 sq. ft
large, that they plan for a 75-100 room hotel and that parking will be on the
adjacent lands (prior Thunderbird mill site) next to the County Public Works
facility. There is currently no actual plan. That would be developed later when
they secure a partner or financial backer and develop the plan with community
input. Tribal attorney, Dennis Whitlsee indicated that they would want to
negotiate the impacts "in principle" with the County, with an
understanding that the exact monetary scale of compensation to the City and
County for impacts would be adjusted later.
The track with the Governor is apparently moving rapidly and they anticipate a
positive determination by the end of the month. The Board of Supervisors has not
expressed a position in favor of the casino or the proposed plan, nor has it
approved any agreement with any tribe.