The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors is both suing the Bureau of Indian Affairs to prevent the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians from putting land into trust to increase the size of its reservation—and simultaneously voting to resume direct negotiations with the band.
In January, the board voted to sue the tribe in federal appeals court to overturn the BIA’s decision to put the “Camp 4” land into trust.
The board has been at sword’s point with the tribe since before it built a casino, a casino that was originally a bingo tent. Things have changed a lot in the interim. The tribe is now a very prosperous business enterprise, of the kind that county governments usually favor.
At its last meeting, the board voted to revivify an ad hoc committee to treat with the tribe. At that meeting two recently elected supervisors, voted to sit down and talk with the tribe over what it plans to do with the Camp 4 land. The tribe has said it wants to build 140 homes there for its members. The County is concerned with losing property tax money if the land is removed from the tax rolls.
Despite that the city hasn’t yet dropped the lawsuit the tribe has said its happy to reopen talks.
