The Cowlitz Tribe and the city of La Center, Washington, are eager to discuss plans for a casino.

Chairman Bill Iyall said its relationship with the city will be "mutually beneficial.” “The prospects of the city’s expansion are dovetailing with the tribe’s goals,” Iyall told The Columbian.

The tribe plans to build the Cowlitz Casino Resort near La Center. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has agreed to place 152 acres in trust for the project.

The decision is being challenged in federal court by Clark County, the city of Vancouver, two property owners, an anti-gaming group and four non-Indian card clubs. They say the BIA failed to consider the environmental impacts of the casino and ignored the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar.

The BIA's record of decision stated that the Cowlitz were "under federal jurisdiction" in 1934 -- a key issue in the Supreme Court case -- even though the tribe didn't gain formal federal recognition until 2000.

Get the Story:
La Center, Cowlitz tribe leaders eager for talks (The Columbian 3/28)

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