Cowlitz Tribe plans to pay for $30M highway project near casino

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Ed. Note: The image previously associated with this post was not a rendering of the Cowlitz Tribe's proposed casino. The image has been corrected and replaced.

Artist's rendering of the proposed Cowlitz Casino Resort. Image from Cowlitz Indian Tribe Environmental Impact Statement

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The Cowlitz Tribe of Washington says it will pay for a $30 million highway project near its proposed casino.

The tribe plans to widen a bridge and realign some roads on Interstate 5. But the project depends on final approval of the Cowlitz Casino Resort.

“We won’t do the improvements to the interchange unless the tribe gets a casino there," Steve Horenstein, an attorney for development group Salishan-Mohegan LLC, told The Battle Ground Reflector.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs agreed to place 152 acres in trust for the tribe. But opponents -- including the including the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in Oregon -- are fighting the decision in federal court.

At issue is the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar. The decision restricts the land-into-trust process to tribes that were "under federal jurisdiction" as of 1934.

The Cowlitz Tribe didn't receive formal recognition until 2000.

Get the Story:
Cowlitz Tribe eyes I-5 interchange project near La Center (The Battle Ground Reflector 7/2) Related Stories:
Opinion: City hurts itself by supporting Cowlitz Tribe casino bid (06/19)