LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — The Bureau of Indian Affairs has given the Cowlitz Indian Tribe permission to establish a 152-acre reservation near La Center.
The announcement Thursday brings the tribe a step closer to its goal of building a $510 million casino-hotel complex on the southwest Washington land.
Tribe Chairman William Iyall tells The Columbian that once the complex is fully built, it could create 3,000 jobs.
Iyall says that because plans for the casino were made before the recession began, the tribe will have to meet with its development partners to see what the next step will be. He says the project will be built in stages, and barring legal challenges, construction could start in 2013.
