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Letter: Casino impact unknowable

By Bill Dygert, ASTORIA, ORE.
Published: April 23, 2017, 6:00am

The Columbian reported that the Cowlitz Tribe will open its new casino at the La Center Junction on April 24. The casino expects to attract more than 4.5 million visitors each year. While the casino is certainly a job creator, many of us worry about the unforeseen impacts this massive new development will have on the surrounding landscapes and on the nearby East Fork Lewis River.

The Cowlitz Tribe was able to build here because it demonstrated that these areas were part of their traditional places to fish, hunt and live. Likewise, when I was a kid, the East Fork Lewis provided opportunities for me and my family to fish for salmon and steelhead, kayak and canoe, swim in the pools from Paradise Point to Moulton Falls, and hunt waterfowl in the bottomlands upstream of La Center.

Certainly, I have no influence over how the tribe engages with the community. However, I have a suggestion. What if the tribe donated $1 for each of their visitors during the year to the Clark County-based Columbia Land Trust to help preserve and enhance fish and wildlife habitat on the East Fork Lewis. It would be a tremendous legacy for everyone who lives and works in Clark County.

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