Opinion: Spokane Tribe off-reservation casino a risk to base

f the BIA had followed the correct procedure, the EIS would have clearly shown that the Spokane Tribe’s project site lies within the crash zone for flight patterns used by pilots during their Visual Flight Rules training missions. BIA’s failure to ensure the use of the latest and best available data regarding impacts to Fairchild puts the base at risk.

Our community should be grateful for the leadership the commissioners demonstrate and, in light of the circumstances, they are completely justified in the amount of time and resources they have committed to this effort.

The reality is Fairchild’s future in our community is not a guarantee. This base is in tough competition in an increasingly challenging federal budget environment. While some proponents of the Spokane development have publicly dismissed this threat, even suggesting that the loss of the base is inevitable or desirable, we know the risk is real.

Fairchild’s presence is responsible for thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in annual economic benefit in our community. Without a doubt, the Spokane region’s future is brighter with Fairchild in it.