The Wilton Rancheria of Northern California doesn’t appear to be overly concerned by a lawsuit that has been filed against its proposed $500 million Wilton Resort Casino Spa.
In an interview with the Elk Grove Citizen Tribal Chairman Raymond “Chuckie” Hitchcock said the tribe has obtained financing for the project and plans to open the casino in late 2020 or early 2021. “We’re on track to get rocking here really soon,” he said.
After a five-year battle, the Bureau of Indian Affairs put 36 acres into trust for the tribe on January 27, as the Obama Administration was handing over things to the incoming Trump Administration. The tribe had been terminated by Congress in the 1950s, but was recognized and reestablished in 2009.
That action by the BIA prompted a federal lawsuit by opponents of the casino, led by Stand Up for California, who challenged the method by which the federal agency put the land into trust.
Last year the tribe successfully negotiated a tribal state gaming compact and the National Indian Gaming Commission approved of a management compact.
