"New polling data released Dec. 6 shows a vast majority of California voters strongly oppose building off-reservation casinos and believe voters should have their say in any decision to pursue off-reservation gaming.

The new survey, conducted by Jim Moore Methods, found that 72% of California voters oppose off-reservation casinos and say tribes should not be allowed to build away from their historic tribal lands while only 20% support it. Moreover, 72% of California voters feel that any decision to change Prop 1A to allow off-reservation gaming should be made by the voters.

This information is timely given the recent decision by the Department of the Interior to approve two off-reservation gaming facility proposals in California, despite the fact that the tribes making the proposals (North Fork Rancheria and Enterprise Rancheria) already have existing tribal lands on which to build casinos.

The tribes instead are pursuing a practice known as "reservation shopping" in an effort to build casinos in urban areas and along highways where they have no modern, historical or aboriginal nexus."

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Stand Up for California and Keep Indian Gaming on Indian Lands: Off-reservation opposition (The Sierra Star 1/6)