Two local community groups have taken another step in their attempt to stop the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians from annexing 6.9 acres of land into a federal trust.

The Preservation of Los Olivos and Preservation of Santa Ynez filed an opening brief with the Interior Board of Indian Affairs, defending their standing to appeal the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) 2005 approval of the tribe’s application to annex the land. In July 2008, the groups won a suit against the bureau in U.S. District court, which rejected the BIA’s argument that the groups had no standing to challenge its decision. Judge A. Howard Matz ruled that the BIA had ignored its own binding regulations on standing in the case, and had not properly considered its regulations in other similar cases before it. The appellants had hailed the ruling as a major breakthrough for citizens wanting to legally challenge federal administrative action for tribal governments.

POLO Board President Kathy Cleary said the groups hope to present their oral arguments sometime this year. “We are all very curious to see what the federal government will do,” Cleary said. “Ultimately, I believe when all of the facts are out there and not hidden, the communities will prevail in objecting to expansion.”

In the Feb. 8 brief, the groups challenged the legitimacy of the tribe, citing a Supreme Court ruling in Carcieri v. Salazar that restricts the Interior Department, which oversees the BIA, from taking land into trust for those tribes that were federally recognized after the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. According to the BIA, the local tribe was recognized in 1972. The land lies opposite from the Chumash Casino and Resort along Highway 246.

The tribe has said it plans to develop a cultural center and museum and a 3.5-acre commemorative park highlighting the history of the Chumash people and acting as a preservation buffer for the archeological site.

Revenue for upkeep of the property relies on the construction of a 27,600-square-foot, two-story retail building – which the local groups suggest will be an extension of the resort’s operations. The groups say their issue isn’t with the development but with the removal of land from state land jurisdiction.

“Removing land from local and state jurisdiction and taxation for closed tribal governments that are not accountable to the people they impact and harm, or to state and county government, for that matter, is a nightmare for our country,” Cleary said. “Tribal casino interests are operating outside the United States Constitution.”

A call placed to Frances Snyder, the tribal spokeswoman for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, was not returned by press time.

jfoster@syvjournal.com