The Wilsonville Non-Casino

All of Oregon's tribes have a casino.  For the Klamath Tribes (the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin Band of the Snake Paiute), it's the Kla-Mo-Ya Casino, which is 22 miles north of Klamath Falls.  It's not a big-money casino because it's not near a large number of potential customers.      

A couple of years ago, I blogged about the Klamath Tribes doing some reservation shopping just south of Wilsonville--roughly 20 miles from Portland.  True the Klamath Tribes no longer have a reservation, but they're certainly not from that part of Oregon.  They applied to build a casino and golf course on the site (links here).  The Tribes are still eyeing that land, but for what is the question.  Activists claim that the Tribes are planning a megacasino.  But according to the brother of the landowner...    

"I don't know how many times we have to tell them that there is absolutely nothing related to a casino being planned for this area," Maletis said. "They are throwing up nothing but a smoke screen and they know it."

Maletis acknowledged, however, that the Chiloquin-based Klamath are working to acquire as trust land acreage near his Langdon Farms Golf Course for eventual conversion to commercial and perhaps industrial uses.

"We're definitely in discussions," he said. "Just where those will lead, we're not sure yet."

Although interpretations differ, the tribes are relying on federal legislation, the Klamath Indian Tribe Restoration Act of 1986, to make the case that they can take the Maletises' property "into trust" and use it for economic development purposes.

The Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua, which also lacks a reservation, has put thousands of acres into trust as part of its economic development and diversification (previous blog here).  Its lucrative Seven Feathers Casino is on I-5 in Canyonville, between Grants Pass and Roseburg.  But unless I'm missing something, the tribe only owns land in Douglas County.   

In May, after a meeting between tribal representatives and the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, BIA officials sent a letter spelling out what the tribe needed to do to take the land around Langdon Farms into trust.

The letter alarmed Williams and others because it promised an expedited process and seemed to indicate the tribe might have little problem taking land that is 200 miles from the Klamath reservation into trust.

Mike Kohlhoff, Wilsonville city attorney, followed up with a letter of his own. His nine-page legal opinion asserted that the BIA's interpretation of the federal regulations vastly overstated what the tribes could actually do.

Wilsonville Mayor Charlotte Lehan, long an opponent of development south of the river, agreed.

"If they could just buy land anywhere and have it be tribal land," she said, "why not just go right into the heart of Portland and buy the convention center?"

Tribal Chairman Joseph Kirk has sent a letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs expressly stating that, whatever else the tribe may have in mind for the property, it does not intend to build a casino there.

So why the secrecy?  Yes there are a number of land-use zealots in that area, but telling them almost nothing lets their imaginations run wilder.

Comments

[OregonGuy]

Coupla random thoughts. Aren't the Maletis brothers the largest Budweiser distributors in the state? Funny that wasn't mentioned. Just a coupla fellers.

Rumour has it that when the Shilo Oceanfront was built in Seaside, the lower floors were all wired in advance for slot machines. Silly urban legends...

According to the state's department on people stuff, there are at least 75-thousand problem gamblers in Oregon. But, of course, I should cut down on my driving.

[RoguePundit]

Interesting urban legend.

Just think of all the state parks, educational programs, etc. those problems gamblers have helped pay for. An addictive tax...