The state tribal gaming compact for the Wilton Rancheria was published in the Federal Register, one of nine published this month for California gaming tribes. This allows the tribe to build a casino in the as yet-unfinished Elk Grove mall near Sacramento.
The 758-member tribe proposes a $500 million near State Highway 99.
Tribal Chairman Raymond Hitchcock declared, “This is another milestone on our journey to self-sufficiency. Basically, what this means for the tribe is affirmation of the compact between the state of California and the tribe regarding its trust land in Elk Grove, and another huge step for potentially opening the doors in 2020 or 2021.”
The tribe’s federal status was restored in 2009 after it lost in more than 50 years before. A year ago the U.S. Department of the Interior put 36 acres for the tribe into trust. Several months later California Governor Jerry Brown signed the compact.
The decision by the Department has been challenged in federal court by Stand Up for California, a casino watchdog group.
The proposed casino would have 2,000 slot machines, 84 gaming tables and a 12-story room with 302 rooms.
The approval of the Wilton Rancheria compact was just one of nine approved by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, finding that all were consistent with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. They were then published in the Federal Register.
The compacts were approved for the Dry Creek Band of Pomo Indians, Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, Morongo Band of Mission Indians, Quechan Tribe (two compacts, Tule River Tribe, Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians and the United Auburn Indian Community.
The compacts were different from the normal approval process in that they were considered “deemed approved,” because the BIA took no action other than publishing them in the Federal Register.
This doubles the number of “deemed approved” compacts in the Golden State and that number is about 20 percent of the total 75 tribes engaged in gaming.
