•  Expects it will be shot down by Department of the Interior

•  ‘This violates everything we promised California voters’


The leaders of an Indian tribe in the Central Valley that operates its own casino say they are opposed to plans by two other tribes and the state for a massive gambling hall complex north of Madera along Highway 99.

The Picayune Rancheria, based in Oakhurst, says it expects the Department of the Interior to squash the plans because the site is well away from the tribes’ lands.

The Interior Department last year rejected a similar compact that the governor signed with Big Lagoon/Los Coyotes to put land near Barstow – hundreds of miles away from their respective tribal lands – into federal trust for the purposes of gaming.

“We fully expect the federal government to do the same in the case of the North Fork Casino because of the negative impacts it will have on the local community and the terrible precedent it sets for the state,” says Morris Reid, chairman of Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians.

The tribe operates an existing casino, the Chukchansi Gold Casino & Resort, located in Coarsegold. The rival casino would be about 34 miles away and on one of the Central Valley’s major freeways, Highway 99.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Monday the signing of a deal with the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians and the Wiyot Tribe for the Madera casino.

“If North Fork is allowed to build a casino along one of California’s major highways – more than 40 miles away from its recognized Indian lands – what is to stop other tribes from doing the same,” says Mr. Reid. “This violates everything we promised California voters when we asked them to support Indian gaming through Proposition 1A.”