Depending on your perspective, the Warm Springs Tribe’s quest to open a casino in the Columbia River Gorge town of Cascade Locks advanced last week or is still mired in a seemingly endless series of hurdles.
In April 2005, Gov. Ted Kulongoski gave state approval to moving forward with an off-reservation casino. That began the process of the Warm Springs tribe actively trying to re-locate its casino from a remote spot east of Mt. Hood closer to Portland — land owned by the Port of Cascade Locks about 40 miles east of Portland.
That proposed move provoked opposition from environmental groups and the Grand Ronde tribe.
Environmentalists such as Friends of the Columbia Gorge say millions of gamblers driving to Cascade Locks will pollute the air and otherwise despoil the federally designated National Scenic Area. As for the Grand Ronde tribe, its Spirit Mountain Casino would lose its lucrative claim to being the nearest casino to Portland.
Anyway, Warm Springs lobbyist Len Bergstein says his client last week achieved a “major milestone” when it signed an agreement to buy 25 acres of land from the Port of Cascade Locks for $1.875 million ($75,000 per acre) and lease an additional 35 acres for a proposed 500,000-square-foot casino.
“It’s the last piece in the puzzle,” Bergstein says. “We had to own the land prior to the final EIS [Environmental Impact Statement] being released.”
But Michael Lang, conservation director for Friends of the Columbia Gorge, says the battle is far from over. He says the tribe can buy all the land it wants but unless and until the political climate in Washington, D.C.—which has cooled toward off-reservation gambling in recent years—changes the purchase agreement is inconsequential.
“It signifies nothing at all,” Lang says. “There are a number of federal approvals still required before this deal is fails or is approved. We’ve got a long way to go.”
(photo courtesy Warm Springs Tribe)
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Tags: Warm Springs Casino
Just when we were thinking the magnificence of the Gorge couldn’t be enhanced more, beyond what the wind turbine accessories have provided.
Soon, we may have cosmetically altered the Columbia River Gorge into a complete Joan Rivers Gorge type of curiosity. Step right up, folks!