Cloverdale Rancheria excited to move forward with casino plan

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Artist's rendering of the proposed Cloverdale Rancheria casino in Sonoma County, California. Image from Cloverdale Rancheria Fee-to-Trust and Resort Casino Project

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The Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians can finally move forward with a long-awaited casino now that the Bureau of Indian Affairs has approved the California tribe's land-into-trust application.

Notice of the acquisition of 61.83 acres is being published in the Federal Register on Thursday. The land will be "immediately" placed in trust, according to the document signed by Larry Roberts, the acting leader of the BIA.

The news is "beyond exciting," tribal administrator Vickey Macias told The San Francisco Chronicle. "We look forward to restoring the path to self-sufficiency and having an opportunity to provide for our members and the local community," she said in a statement provided to the paper.

The tribe is working with Sealaska, an Alaska Native corporation, on the project but the partners haven't updated the cost, size of the casino or other details because the land-into-trust process took so long. Original plans called for a large facility and a hotel at the site.

Get the Story:
Land for Cloverdale Rancheria tribe makes casino possible (The San Francisco Chronicle 5/18)

Bureau of Indian Affairs Documents:
Decision Letter | Record of Decision $P Forthcoming Federal Register Notice:
Land Acquisitions; Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California (To Be Published May 19, 2016)

Federal Register Notice:
Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians' Proposed 65-Acre Fee-to-Trust Acquisition and Resort Casino Project, Sonoma County, California (April 18, 2014)