The Buena Vista Band of Me-Wuk Indians released a draft tribal environmental impact report for its proposed casino in Amador County, California.

The report [Documents] details plans for the Flying Cloud casino. It was required under the compact [PDF] the tribe negotiated with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R).

The small tribe and its casino plans were the subject of controversy two years ago when the legitimacy of Chairwoman Donnamarie Potts was challenged, setting of a battle between rival camps of lawyers and lobbyists. The Bureau of Indian Affairs was prepared to recognize another woman, Rhonda Morningstar Pope [pictured at right], as the legitimate leader until Wayne Smith, the former BIA deputy, was ousted after a smear campaign linked to a Republican operative.

The two camps eventually settled, with Pope taking control of the tribe, although operative Roger Stone once claimed that the victory came through a rider in an omnibus act.

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Buena Vista tribe releases casino draft impact report (The Amador Ledger-Dispatch 5/18)