"Georgene Rice of KPDQ-FM interviews Nick Graham with the Oregon Family Council, discusses the proposed off Reservation Columbia Gorge Casino near Cascade Locks (not to be confused with Ballot Measure 75 which would place a private non-tribal casino in Wood Village).

Georgene: First of all, bring our listeners up to date on this proposed this off reservation casino, who’s pushing it? Where would it be and why?

Nick: This has been several years in the making. Who is pushing it is the Warm Springs Tribe, who are located primarily in Madras, in the central part of the state. They currently have a casino, Kaneetah Casino. The Kaneetah Casino is not performing to the level they would like. Each tribe in Oregon has the right to own one casino on historical tribal land. That’s a federal rule and that has been place in for quite awhile. The tribes rely heavily on the revenue from the casinos and if the casinos aren’t performing well, then it makes it difficult for them to maintain themselves as a tribe. They originally looked at Hood River, which didn’t want any kind of casino there, and I believe there was some historical tribal land that they could build on. Then they looked down river to Cascade Locks…but it is 45 minutes from Portland…and it’s right in the middle of the Columbia River Gorge, a national scenic area. Our challenge has been, at the federal level, this is a huge complicated process to get this done. However, there are aspects of the project that have been approved…through the Department of the Interior….All along the way there are plenty of opportunities for people to voice their opinions, as to whether they think a massive casino in the Columbia River Gorge, 45 minutes away from a million families is a good thing for Oregon."

Get the Story:
The “other” casino no one is talking about (Oregon Faith Report 10/12)

Federal Register Notice:
Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon Proposed Trust Acquisition and Resort and Casino Project, Cascade Locks, Hood River County, OR (August 6, 2010)

Related Stories:
Oregon governor supports off-reservation casino for Warm Springs (9/8)
Oregon candidates oppose Warm Springs off-reservation plan (8/11)
Warm Springs Tribes hail BIA movement on off-reservation casino (8/6)
BIA takes action with five gaming and gaming-related applications (8/6)