The Bureau of Indian Affairs has begun the process of environmental review for an application by California’s Wilton Rancheria to put 282 acres in the Sacramento Valley into trust for a casino near Galt.
The casino, if approved, would be the first for Sacramento County. That doesn’t mean the casino would not have competition. Nearby Amador County has two tribal gaming proposals hanging fire.
The tribe is working with Boyd Gaming, which operates 22 casinos in eight states, to develop its casino proposal.
The first public scoping meeting was held December 21 with about 50 in attendance. The property where the casino is proposed is now a cow pasture. The tribe has previously made presentations to the Galt City Council and gained its approval, so there was little that was surprising raised during the meeting.
In 2009 the city of Elk Grove and Sacramento County fought a lawsuit filed by the tribe in which it sought federal recognition. Both later dropped their suits after the tribe promised to address their environmental concerns. In addition, the tribe also moved its proposed casino site to Galt.
A report generated by the meeting will be made available to the public in a month or two. The draft environmental document won’t be generated until 2015.
