The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe is hoping to obtain permission from the federal government for an off-reservation casino in Ridgecrest, California, about 130 miles from its tribal homeland in Bishop.
The tribe would like to reach an agreement with the town of Ridgecrest where it would pay $400,000 a year for municipal services and to mitigate impacts of a casino. It would also like to enlist the city to support its request to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to put the land into trusts.
The casino would be located on vacant land near the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.
The tribe previously sought to put a casino on land about 200 miles from Bishop in Hesperia. Because of its location in the Death Valley National Park the tribe is not allowed to put a casino there.
