The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians says a U.S. Department of Interior decision to greenlight the Coquille Indian Tribe’s plan for a Class II casino in Medford will be harmful to tribes in the region.

The Record of Decision was handed down Friday.

Earlier in January, a U.S. District Court judge for the District of Columbia denied a motion by regional tribes that would block federal officials from approving the casino, which would be located at the site of the former Roxy Ann Lanes on South Pacific Highway in Medford. 

The three tribes — the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians in Oregon and the Karuk Tribe and Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation in Northern California — jointly filed a lawsuit over the casino in December, which has been refiled in federal court as an amended complaint and includes a request for an injunction, online court records show.

Named in the lawsuit are DOI, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and members of the Biden administration, including Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. The tribes say the casino project should not be approved due to lack of consulting with the tribes and an invalid final environmental impact study.

U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta denied the initial motion for the injunction Jan. 2, according to online court records. Mehta, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, determined that the tribes must await a final decision by federal officials, which has now been made.

The proposed Cedars at Bear Creek in Medford would involve remodeling the Coquille Tribe-owned Roxy Ann Lanes bowling alley into a gaming facility that would include a 16,000-square-foot gaming floor with 650 Class II gaming machines, a bar and other services. Class II gaming machines include video gaming devices such as slot machines and video poker. The plan does not include table games such as blackjack, poker or dice.

The project has garnered resistance from tribes in Southern Oregon and Northern California who fear the Medford gaming facility will divert people from their casinos on tribal lands.

“We have seen this play before, and it is not the final word,” Chairman Carla Keene of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians said in a release Friday. “Secretary Haaland is following in the steps of the Obama BIA, issuing a decision that, were it legitimate, would have been approved long ago and in the light of day, not the 11th hour before leaving office.

“Allowing a Tribe to claim ties to lands outside their ancestral territory falsely harms all Tribes. It perpetuates an inaccurate history and will cause irreparable harm to the historical, cultural, environmental, and economic interests of the Indigenous people who occupied those lands before they were taken.”

According to the Cow Creek Tribe, the Medford casino would also reverse Oregon’s one-tribe, one-casino policy by allowing the first urban and off-reservation casino. Further, the tribe argues that it is more than 165 miles from the Coquille Indian Tribe’s ancestral homelands in North Bend.

The Coquille Indian Tribe said in a statement attributed to tribal chairwoman Brenda Meade: “The Biden Administration sent a clear message: it stands with Indian Country and intends to honor its commitments to tribal sovereignty. Waiting almost 13 years for an environmental review process to review two acres was a ridiculous weaponization of the federal NEPA process used to punish the Coquille Tribe for taking a legal course of action to provide for its own citizens after termination.

“No tribe should go through the anguish and expense that the Coquille Tribe has endured,” Meade’s statement read in part. “The decision finally offers heartening sign to all tribal advocates who have pushed for the government to meet its responsibilities and trust obligations to Tribes.

“As this project now moves ahead, I am thrilled by the tremendous opportunities in front of us to support our people and our communities. …” Meade concluded.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., blasted the decision.

In a statement sent to the Rogue Valley Times, Wyden said, “This reckless choice by D.C. bureaucrats catapults Oregon into an uncontrolled escalation of gambling with no end in sight. And it compounds the collateral damage from this casino arms race by cavalierly tossing out our state’s time-honored agreement that balances all Tribes’ equal opportunities to achieve economic independence and prosperity.

“I will fight this senseless decision with all the options available, including the Congressional Review Act that empowers elected representatives to battle back against rogue federal agency decisions just like this one.”

The sentiment wasn’t shared locally by at least one Medford City Council member.

City Councilor Kevin Stine said in a statement provided by the Coquille Tribe: “I am thrilled to see a project that will create jobs and new economic opportunities in Medford finally moving forward. The Coquille Tribe has been a fantastic partner for our community, and we look forward to our continued work together.”

This article has been updated with comment from the Coquille Indian Tribe, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and Medford City Councilor Kevin Stine.