U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, has weighed in with the U.S. Interior Department on the Cowlitz Tribe’s proposed casino, saying she’s “troubled by the practical implications that this application will have on the city of La Center,” as well as on future gaming-related trust land acquisitions.
In a Feb. 1 letter to Assistant Interior Secretary Larry Echo Hawk, who oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Herrera Beutler argued that his Dec. 17 decision allowing the Cowlitz Tribe to place 152 acres west of La Center in trust for a future tribal casino was “inappropriately influenced” by the tribe and its consultants and represented an “end run around congressional decision-making.”
“My understanding is that the tribe paid for the government’s environmental and economic study and was highly engaged in the drafting and editing of that study,” she wrote.
Cowlitz Tribal Chairman Bill Iyall said the new congresswoman is misinformed and that it would have been helpful if she had talked to tribal officials before writing the letter.
“We did an outreach and planned to meet with her staff,” Iyall said. Tribal officials now have an appointment to meet with her district office staff in Vancouver next week, he said.
Iyall said it’s standard procedure for a tribe to pay for a casino study and in fact applicants are required by the BIA to pay for studying large projects.
Herrera Beutler also said it appears the BIA “switched legal theories” for allowing the casino to be built late in its review.
“When it appeared that the bureau would have problems justifying the acquisition under the tribe’s original ‘restored lands’ theory, the department switched legal theories at the last minute to a new ‘initial reservation’ theory,” she wrote.
“It’s not a theory, it’s based on federal law,” Iyall said. “Either way is available under federal law. There is some misinformation. It’s just unfortunate that it appears in that letter. That’s really up to the BIA, to clear that up.”
Herrera Beutler also questioned the tribe’s historical connection to Clark County.
“This has been a highly controversial proposal from the beginning, in no small part because questions have been raised as to the tribe’s historical connection to Clark County,” she wrote. “I would like to understand if the bureau is allowing a tribe to acquire land outside of its historical lands, and if so, under what authority.”
Opponents of the casino, including the group Citizens Against Reservation Shopping, have raised similar questions about the tribe’s presence in Southwest Washington before European settlement.
“We’re a landless tribe,” Iyall said. “There are provisions under the federal rules and we are just trying to follow the federal rules. There are attorneys out there trying to recruit people to throw roadblocks in front of us. We are fully confident in the BIA.”
The Interior Department did not respond Monday to a request for comment.
Casey Bowman, Herrera Beutler’s spokesman, said the proposed casino “was already on her radar” since the proposed site “falls right in her former legislative district and she’d been hearing from concerned residents.”
He said the Dec. 17 announcement prompted her letter.
Herrera Beutler echoed legal arguments put forward by Clark County in its legal challenge of the BIA decision. The city of Vancouver, Citizens Against Reservation Shopping, all four La Center cardrooms and several individuals joined in the lawsuit against the Interior Department.
Herrera Beutler noted that the BIA urged Congress last year to pass legislation that would reverse a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision that concluded that the federal statute authorizing the agency to acquire land on behalf of tribes should be narrowly interpreted.
“This decision was widely thought to preclude the Cowlitz Tribe from acquiring land in Clark County,” she wrote. “Congress declined to adopt such legislation. Despite Congress’ decision, I have been advised that the bureau adopted a very aggressive, and possibly unlawful, interpretation of the (Supreme Court) case to enable it to acquire land for the tribe despite Congress’ inaction.”
She said this could “open the floodgates” to many other tribes seeking to acquire off-reservation lands for gaming.
Finally, Herrera Beutler asserted that a “Las Vegas-style casino” conflicts with state and local land-use laws and would cause “significant, unmitigated land-use impacts.”
She noted that in May 2008, Clark County took action that resulted in rezoning land surrounding the proposed casino site for agriculture.
“Even if the land acquired by the federal government is lawful, how will the surrounding agriculturally zoned land connect to the casino land?” she asked.
Iyall said land issues were thoroughly addressed in the environmental impact statement for the casino and that the casino plan is consistent with both state and federal environmental laws.
“The process for an initial reservation is fair and accurate and compliant with the federal law,” he said.
The tribe initially hoped to break ground on the first phase of the $510 million casino in about 18 months, but the lawsuit could delay that schedule.
