The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) will hold a virtual public meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24 regarding the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation’s proposed casino in Pasco, Franklin County, Washington.
Written comments will be due May 3 for the EIS, a critical step in the process for placing land into federal trust for an off-reservation casino. The EIS outlines the impact of a proposed project on the surrounding environment. The tribe filed its land-trust application with the BIA in August 2023.
The Colville project would include a 184,200-square-foot casino, 200-room hotel, event center, restaurants and support facilities, to be built on 180 acres the tribe purchased in 2019 for a new 12 Tribes Casino facility. The 8,700-member tribe currently operates three 12 Tribes Casinos, in Omak, Lake Chelan and Coulee Dam.
The Colville casino is not without critics, in particular the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, which operates a casino in Toppenish.
Yakama tribal officials have expressed their intent to open a second location, possibly in the Tri-Cities area, which the Colville consider the homeland of several of its constituent tribes. The Yakama ceded that territory under an 1855 treaty and have stated the Colville do not have the right to open a casino there.
