Three regional tribes file suit over proposed casino in Medford

Published 11:47 am Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Medford City Council voted Thursday to take a neutral stance on a proposed tribal casino on Highway 99 in Medford.

Alleging violations of the U.S. Constitution, the National Environmental Policy Act and Tribal consultation policy, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, Karuk Tribe and Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation jointly filed a lawsuit Monday opposing a proposed casino in Medford.

The tribes are located in Southern Oregon and Northern California.

The suit aims to obtain a temporary restraining order against the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and members of the Biden administration, including Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.

The three tribes argue that the proposal by the Coquille Indian Tribe based in North Bend on the Oregon Coast to establish a gaming facility in Medford — at the old location of Roxy Ann Lanes on Highway 99 — would cause irreparable harm to their economic, environmental, cultural and historic wellbeing.

“This legal action is our option of last resort after being denied repeated requests for consultation,” said Carla Keene, chairman of the Cow Creek Umpqua Tribe of Indians in quotes attributed to her in a release issued by the tribes earlier this week. “The administration has failed in their responsibility under its own executive order, NEPA rules and executive proclamation to consult with our Tribes about a project that puts the interests of one Tribe over many others.”

The tribes are asking the court to issue an order to the BIA to halt the Medford casino project due to lack of consulting with the tribes and an invalid final environmental impact study.

“The Interior Department’s refusal to fully assess the impacts of this casino on other Oregon and Northern California Tribes is disappointing and not how Secretary Haaland and Biden Administration officials should want to be remembered,” said Cheryle Kennedy, chairman of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, a federally-recognized Tribe in Yamhill County. “While they have done a lot for Indian Country, if this casino is allowed to go forward on the eve of them leaving office, it will devastate the economies of other Tribes and set a precedent that may harm many others in the future.”

The public comment period for the casino ended Monday, Dec. 23, for BIA.

The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians states that the proposed casino “would cannibalize the gaming revenues that support Tribal governmental services” in the region, negatively impacting revenues used to support services such as elder care, housing, food security and education.

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.

“This is not the action we wanted to take — we want to work with the BIA and our other Tribes, but without another option, we have a responsibility to our Tribal members and their welfare to protect Tribal sovereignty, ancestral land integrity, and fairness for all Tribes,” Keene said.

Tim Novotny, a media contact for the Coquille Indian Tribe, did not return a request for comment Tuesday.

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