Tule River Tribe gains federal approval to move casino

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

The Tule River Tribe owns and operates the Eagle Mountain Casino in Porterville, California. Photo: Tamara Evans

The Tule River Tribe has taken an important step forward in relocating its casino to a more prominent site in California.

The tribe has won approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to move the Eagle Mountain Casino in Porterville. Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney announced her decision last month to the National Congress of American Indians.

Moving the casino "would be in the best interest of the tribe and not detrimental to the surrounding community," Sweeney said at NCAI's 76th annual convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on October 21.

But Sweeney's decision isn't the end of the story. Under the two-part determination provisions of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) must also approve the project, which has been in the works for more than a decade.

Indianz.Com on SoundCloud: Tara Sweeney | National Congress of American Indians | 2019

$P "I sent the secretarial determination over to Gov. Newsom for his concurrence," Sweeney said at NCAI.

"A decision to acquire the approximately 40-acre parcel into federal trust will be made at a later date -- when Gov. Newsom concurs with the secretarial determination," Sweeney added.

The 40-acre parcel is near the Porterville Airport Industrial Park, where local officials support the project. The site is less than 20 miles from the existing facility so it's not far from the reservation, even though it's being treated as an off-reservation acquisition.

“After years of hard work, the federal government moved the tribe’s casino relocation one step closer to making this dream a reality,” Chairman Neil Peyron told The Porterville Recorder.

In the 31-year history of IGRA, only a handful of tribes have secured approval to open a casino under the two-part determination provisions of the law. Two are in California, where the Estom Yumeka Maidu Tribe of the Enterprise Rancheria just opened the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sacramento at Fire Mountain last week following years of controversy and litigation.

The North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians won the second two-part determination approval. Litigation and controversy have kept the tribe's project from moving forward.

Read More on the Story

One Step Closer: BIA approves gaming at site as casino project advances (The Porterville Recorder November 5, 2019)

Federal Register Notices

Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Tule River Tribe's Proposed Fee-to-Trust and Eagle Mountain Casino Relocation Project, Tulare County, California (May 31, 2019)

Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Tule River Tribe's Proposed Fee-to-Trust and Eagle Mountain Casino Relocation Project, Tulare County, California (September 21, 2018)

Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Tule River Tribe's Proposed Fee-to-Trust and Eagle Mountain Casino Relocation Project, Tulare County, California (December 30, 2016)

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