- Details
- By Brian Edwards
- Gaming
The U.S. Department of the Interior will temporarily rescind its gaming eligibility determination for the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians’ casino project in Vallejo, according to a letter sent to Scotts Valley Chairman Shawn Davis on March 27.
The Interior plans to maintain the land’s trust status, but will reconsider whether the 160-acre parcel qualifies for gaming under the “restored lands” exception of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, according to the letter from Scott J. Davis, senior advisor to the Secretary of the Interior.
The letter was copied to Chairman Anthony Roberts of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, Chairman Charlie Wright of the Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation, Chairman John Williams of the United Auburn Indian Community, Vallejo Mayor Andrea Sorce, Solano County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mitch Mashburn, and the Acting Chair of the National Indian Gaming Commission.
“The Secretary is concerned that the Department did not consider additional evidence submitted after the 2022 Remand,” Davis wrote. “During the pendency of this reconsideration, neither the Tribe nor any other entity or person should rely on the Gaming Eligibility Determination.”
The decision follows lawsuits filed by three California tribes challenging the original Jan. 10, approval.
"For more than a year, we have requested that the Department of the Interior establish a fair, transparent, fact-based decision-making process in which all tribes can participate on equal footing," Chairman Roberts said in a statement shared with Tribal Business News. "It's hard to know why the Biden Administration refused to follow these basic principles, but we're glad the incoming Administration is committed to getting it right."
The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and the Kletsel Dehe Band of Wintun Indians jointly filed a lawsuit arguing the Interior Department’s decision gave their ancestral Patwin lands to an “unrelated Pomo tribe.” The lawsuit, filed on Mar. 24, seeks to overturn the decision, which authorized an urban casino development. The United Auburn Indian Community (UAIC) filed a separate lawsuit challenging the same approval.
Kletsel Dehe Chairman Charlie Wright said his tribe "is pleased that the Department of the Interior appears to be taking our concerns seriously" and looks forward to "participating in a fair, transparent reconsideration process."
"Nothing is more important than our ancestral homelands," Roberts continued, "and to see them stripped away without consultation by the Biden Administration was extremely painful. We applaud Secretary Burgum for beginning the process to right that wrong, and we look forward to working with him to ensure our lands and cultural resources are protected for generations to come."
The Interior has invited the Scotts Valley Band and other interested parties to submit evidence regarding whether the site qualifies as restored lands, with a deadline of May 30, 2025.
The Interior Department had previously rejected similar applications from the Scotts Valley Band on three occasions - in 1991, 2012, and 2019 - citing lack of historical connection to Vallejo.
Chez Oxendine provided reporting.
