Timbisha Shoshone Tribe casino up for discussion at another meeting

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe hopes to build a casino at this site along North China Lake Boulevard in Ridgecrest, California. Image from Google Maps

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Officials in Ridgecrest, California, are once again discussing a proposed casino agreement with the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe.

The city council's meeting on Wednesday will be the fifth in five weeks on the issue. The agenda does not indicate whether officials will actually make a decision on the municipal services agreement.

The tribe is promising about $400,000 a year for city services plus a one-time payment of $80,000. The agreement would run for 20 years.

The tribe hopes to open a casino near the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. A land-into-trust application will be submitted to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The tribe has a reservation in Death Valley National Park but it has to look elsewhere for economic development due to restrictions there.

The Timbisha Shoshone Homeland Act requires the BIA to place certain lands in trust but in the event a particular parcel in Nevada can't be acquired, the law says a "another parcel mutually agreed upon" by the tribe and the federal government can be placed in trust.

Additional information about the project can be found in an agenda and a supplemental agenda from last month.

Get the Story:
Council to talk casino, budget (The Ridgecrest Daily Independent 5/17)
Casino website provides wealth of information (The Ridgecrest Daily Independent 5/17)