It's a new year, but still more waiting for Enterprise Rancheria in its quest to get a casino resort in Yuba County.

After the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs wrapped up consultations with tribes across the country last month on casinos, officials announced there would be a pause as the bureau determined a new policy, according to a bureau press release.

But Charles Altekruse, a community relations manager for the Estom Yumeka Maidu tribe backing the casino, said the pause fit with the timeline tribal members expected when the federal government first announced a need for a new policy last summer.

"This was just a clarification of recent speculation," Altekruse said.
The bureau announced the formulation, but not the timing, of a new policy last month, after it gave the go-ahead for a casino for a tribe in Washington state and denied one for a tribe seeking a project near Redding.

Last July, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the bureau needed to review its process for approving such projects and determine a new policy, after meeting with tribal representatives.

Altekruse said he expected the policy this spring.
But he said he wouldn't speculate on how soon Enterprise Rancheria itself would get a federal determination. Whether the bureau allows the tribe to take the land for the project into trust is the last step at the federal level, though the tribe would also need to agree to terms on a tribal compact with the state government. There are nine pending applications for casinos at the federal level.
"This process has gone on much too long to do much speculating," Altekruse said.

An official from the bureau could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Gov. Jerry Brown has not given much suggestion of his stance on new tribal casinos, though he did receive donations from tribes with active casinos during last year's governor's race.

Altekruse said the tribe didn't read the bureau's announcement of a new policy formulation either positively or negatively.
"We continue to be hopeful," he said.

Enterprise Rancheria opponent Sandra Gilbert said she hopes the new policy doesn't allow for off-reservation casinos.

"An off-reservation casino is nothing more than speculation by outside parties that are non-Indian," said Gilbert, who lives near Wheatland. "These tribes need to prove much stronger ties and better needs."

As proposed, the Enterprise Rancheria project would be on 40 acres near the Sleep Train Amphitheatre and include a 170-room hotel, pool, bar, restaurants and gift shops in addition to a Las Vegas-style casino.

In 2005 nonbinding advisory vote, Yuba County residents opposed the project.
Other tribes with existing casinos have opposed Enterprise Rancheria, saying its members are "reservation shopping" for land outside its traditional tribal lands near Oroville. Tribal representatives have said their history can be traced to both Butte and Yuba counties.