The Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Tara Sweeney has approved putting land into trust for the Central California Tule River Indian Tribe to move its Eagle Mountain Casino to Porterville.
This allows the tribe to build the casino on the 40-acre site. The BIA also approved a tribal state gaming compact between the state and tribe. Moving the casino off the reservation required a two-part determination that included the approval of California Gavin Newsom.
The tribe has sought to move and expand the casino for two decades. With this final approval it can now break ground. Besides the casino, the project will also include new tribal residences. Tribal services will operate in the existing casino building.
The tribe will also pay to build a water reclamation plant in Porterville to improve the quality of water for the city.
The tribe said in a statement, “This decision will allow the tribe to relocate our existing casino to the city of Porterville so that we may use our limited water supply to provide critical housing to our tribal members and continue to improve the general welfare of our tribal members.”
Tribal Chairman Neil Peyron added, “We appreciate all of the support we have received and are proud of our rewarding partnerships with the city of Porterville, Tulare County and the state of California—each of which was critical in making the relocation project a reality.”
