Agreement to expand gambling on Indian reservation

Friday, Dec. 24, 1999 | 9:37 a.m.

The pact would allow the Umatilla to proceed with plans to double the size of the tribe's Wildhorse Casino near Pendleton.

In exchange, the tribe must set up a charitable foundation to share net gambling revenues with organizations in four surrounding counties, according to Umatilla spokeswoman Debra Croswell.

The agreement is the fourth in Oregon that enables a tribe to add Las Vegas-style games such as craps and roulette to slot machines, poker and blackjack.

Leaders of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation signed off on the agreement.

The Grand Ronde, Cow Creek and Siletz have agreed in their compacts to give about 5 percent of net revenues to their own grant-making foundations, said Chip Lazenby, the governor's legal counsel and top gambling negotiator.

After two years of talks, negotiators for the Umatilla were able to argue for a more flexible total - between 3 percent and 6 percent - because the Umatilla already offer extensive services to non-Native Americans living on the reservation, including police, water, fire and ambulance service.

The tribes already share 3 percent to 6 percent directly with the community, Croswell said. In addition to charitable donations, gambling revenue has provided such improvements as a $500,000 fire station expansion that benefits the roughly 2,000 nontribal members - half the population - who live on the tribe's 172,000-acre reservation.

Wildhorse brings the Umatilla roughly $12 million a year in net profits, which the tribe uses to support tribal government, scholarships, tribal elders, housing, investments and economic development. That would mean a minimum of about $360,000 a year could be used to make grants to local community and governmental organizations in Umatilla, Morrow, Union and Wallowa counties.

Although the Umatilla probably won't add the new games for another year, Croswell said the tribe's board of trustees probably would move ahead early in the new year to set up a foundation.

Lazenby said he expected the governor to sign the new compact late this week or next; it will then be forwarded to the Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt for final approval.

Under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, tribes must negotiate with states over the scope and location of certain forms of gambling otherwise legal in the state. Eight of nine Oregon tribes operate casinos.