Oregon ruling may slow drive for Indian casinos

Matthew Daly

Wednesday, May 25, 2005 | 11:19 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Momentum for off-reservation gambling at Indian-owned casinos may be slowing after the Interior Department's rejection of a deal for a tribal casino near the Columbia River in Oregon, lawmakers on both sides of the issue say.

"There are many members of Congress who are ... deeply concerned about the proliferation of off-reservation Indian gambling casinos," said Rep. David Wu, D-Ore.

Wu, who opposes the Oregon plan, said the federal decision "will give Oregonians a chance to reconsider the kind of state we wish to be."

On Friday, the Interior Department temporarily blocked a proposal by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs to build a casino in Cascade Locks, about 40 miles east of Portland in the scenic Columbia River Gorge. Tribal leaders estimate the casino would draw 3 million people a year.

The department left open the possibility that it will approve the deal later, but said it would not do so unless it first rules that the off-reservation land can be taken into trust for gambling -- a process that could take years.

The department's decision represents a reversal from previous policy, when officials typically approved tribal agreements signed with state governors, then decided whether to allow off-reservation gambling.

Nedra Darling, a spokeswoman for the Interior Department, called the new policy more logical, but Wu said politics probably played a role.

"I think the Department of Interior has sensed there is a change in congressional attitude, and for various reasons of its own, I think it is also in the process of shifting its position," said Wu, who wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton opposing the Warm Springs plan.