The casino is being built on a 40-acre site near Sacramento, the state capital, that was placed in trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 2012. The decision came after the tribe secured federal, as well as state, approval to open the casino, a process that took about a decade. The Cachil Dehe Band of Wintun Indians, which operates an existing casino in the Sacramento area, challenged the acquisition but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the BIA's decision in May 2018. The tribe did not mount an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, thus putting an end to the litigation. The United Auburn Indian Community, another tribe with a Sacramento-area casino, also had challenged the new development. The tribe did not participate in the appeal to the 9th Circuit but the litigation delayed the project several more years. Fire Mountain is about 35 miles north of Sacramento. A subsidiary of Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment, Inc., which is owned by the Seminole Tribe, is developing and managing the facility. In addition to the 170-room hotel, the casino will feature more than 1,800 slot machines, meeting space, several bars and restaurants and an outdoor pool area. Separate from Fire Mountain, Hard Rock has partnered with the Tejon Tribe on another casino in California. The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon, which is still in the federal review process, is to be located near Bakersfield, more than 270 miles south of Sacramento.
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Hard Rock taking room reservations this week
(The Marysville Appeal-Democrat August 13, 2019)Hard Rock looking for vendors (The Marysville Appeal-Democrat August 10, 2019)
Constructing Hard Rock Casino (The Marysville Appeal-Democrat July 18, 2019)
9th Circuit Court of Appeals Decision
Cachil Dehe
Band of Wintun Indians of the Colusa Indian Community v. Zinke (May 2, 2018)
Federal Register Notice
Land
Acquisitions; Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California (December
3, 2012)
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