The Estom Yumeka Maidu Tribe of the Enterprise Rancheria cleared another hurdle. The Department of the Interior last week issued procedures that will allow it to conduct Class III gaming on 40 acres of tribal land in Yuba County, California.
The tribe still has plenty of procedures that it needs to get past before it can begin construction of its $186 million Fire Mountain Casino.
Tribal Chairman Glenda Nelson greeted the announcement happily: “The issuance of secretarial procedures by the department is an important milestone and clears a major hurdle for the development of our Tribe’s gaming facility,” she said in a release. “The Tribe is extremely excited and very appreciative to the department for fulfilling its duty to issue the procedures as required under federal law.”
The tribe had previously considered opening its casino with just Class II gaming after breaking ground on the Fire Mountain Casino and then recently calling a halt while they waited for this announcement from Interior, as well as the final judgment in a federal lawsuit.
Nelson noted that the issuance of the procedures from the federal government was one thing that the tribe had been waiting for. “Though there remain challenges to overcome before we can resume construction, this decision demonstrates yet again our commitment to fulfill the letter and spirit of the law throughout the process,” she said. “The is an example of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act working as it was intended to assist tribes in building stronger, more economically self-reliant governments and communities.”
She said the tribe looked forward to “resolving the remaining obstacles” and returning to the work of completing the casino.
This could lead to opening the 140,000 square foot casino just south of the city of Marysville by May of 2017, a facility that it broke ground on in April.
The tribe blames obstacles that have been deliberately placed in its way, a combination of judicial, political and legislative interference that have kept it off track for more than ten years.
When the tribe announced a temporary halt to construction, Nelson wrote: “Delays, lost economic benefits, and added project costs stemming from abusive claims and lawsuits are not the fault of the courts or government agencies” She added, “They’re doing the best they can but are simply overwhelmed just dealing with dubious tactics aimed at clogging up the system.”
That was before the department announced its issuance of procedures, eliminating one of the most important roadblocks.
One of those roadblocks has been the state itself. The BIA has issued gaming procedures three times previously. In August 2014 the tribe sued the state in federal court, alleging that it had violated the terms of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).
Opponents of the tribe accuse it of “reservation shopping” because its casino would be located on “off reservation” land that was approved for gaming through the “two-part determination” clause of IGRA.
In February of this year a judge ruled that the legislature acted in bad faith by failing to approve a gaming compact with the tribe and ordered it to approve one within 60 days. The state let that deadline go past without acting. That punted the decision to the Department of the Interior, which then issued the procedures that allow Class III gaming at the site.
Meanwhile, three rival gaming tribes have asked Congress to pass HR 5079, dubbed the California Compact Protection Act, which would amend IGRA to require that “certain off-reservation gaming proposals shall be subject to full ratification and referendum process established by California State law.” In other words, that a compact could not be forced on the state by the federal government. The bill was carefully crafted so that it didn’t affect several other gaming tribes, including the Colusa Indian Community, and the United Auburn Indian Community. Both are fighting the Enterprise Rancheria.
The tribe has been trying to build a casino for about 15 years. The land was put into trust four years ago.
