Deal reached to build casino in Oregon town

Brad Cain

Wednesday, April 6, 2005 | 9:18 a.m.

SALEM, Ore. -- The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and Gov. Ted Kulongoski have reached agreement to build a casino in a small town in the scenic Columbia River Gorge, a spokesman for the tribe said Tuesday.

Len Bergstein said the governor and tribal representatives are scheduled to sign the formal agreement during a ceremony today in Cascade Locks, a financially struggling town where the casino is to be built.

"There is essential agreement between the negotiators for the state and for Warm Springs to build the casino," Bergstein said.

The negotiated agreement calls for Warm Springs to give a portion of the casino's revenue to the state, Bergstein said. He declined to say how much.

Mary Ellen Glynn, a spokeswoman for the governor, declined to discuss the agreement. She said representatives of Kulongoski's office and the tribe were to meet later Tuesday at the Capitol to go through details of the agreement.

Located about 40 miles east of Portland, the Cascade Locks casino is expected to be a big moneymaker for the tribe. Tribal leaders have estimated that the new casino will draw 3 million patrons yearly.

Kulongoski's predecessor, Gov. John Kitzhaber, had turned down the project in 1999 because he opposed off-reservation casinos.

The new casino's location also has drawn criticism from the group Friends of the Columbia River Gorge and other conservationists who are concerned about increased traffic and air pollution.

Bergstein said the agreement calls on Warms Springs to use some of the casino's profits to enhance "environmental protection" in the gorge, but he declined to offer specifics.

Many residents in the small town of Cascade Locks say they are eager for the casino to come to town, and for the jobs and tourists that it could bring.

The agreement will require that the tribes' existing on-reservation casino, Kah-Nee-Ta, no longer operate as a casino after the Cascade Locks facility opens.

In pushing for the Cascade Locks casino, the Warm Springs tribes said they they needed a larger casino to bring down the high unemployment rates on the reservation.