Timbisha Shoshone Tribe seeks approval to buy land for casino bid

Monday, September 5, 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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The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe is seeking to buy land for its proposed casino in Ridgecrest, California.

The tribe plans to pay $5.5 million for about 24.6 acres. The property is located within the city-owned Ridgecrest Business Park so the city's approval is required for the transaction.

The city council is scheduled to take up the issue at a meeting on Wednesday, according to the agenda.

The tribe and the city previously entered into a municipal services agreement for the casino.

The Timbisha Shoshone Homeland Act requires the Bureau of Indian Affairs to place certain lands in trust but in the event a particular parcel 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. The law does not appear to place any restrictions on where that parcel can be located so the land in Ridgecrest would presumably qualify.

The tribe has a reservation in Death Valley National Park, about 122 miles from Ridgecrest, but it has to look elsewhere for economic opportunities due to restrictions on development there.

Read More on the Story:
Council to talk Casino land sale Wednesday (The Ridegcrest Daily independent 9/3)

An Opinion:
Our View: Some thoughts on the casino: slow down (The Ridegcrest Daily independent 9/3)