As you know, the Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians has purchased the 1,400 acres known as Camp 4. The tribe is actively pursuing efforts to remove that land from the county and state and place it into their reservation.
This is the biggest challenge we have ever faced. Once land is placed into the reservation through trust, it is completely and forever outside local and state controls.
Our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and beyond would have nothing to say about what occurred on that land. Forever, our local elected officials would have nothing to say. No regulations or restrictions could apply. The Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians would be free to make up its own rules without consideration for surrounding communities.
I attended the public presentation at the Chumash Casino alluding to plans for the Camp 4 property as tribal housing, not a casino. The transfer of Camp 4 was presented, at least to this listener, as pretty much a done deal. The tribe views it as their absolute, legislatively guaranteed right to place the land in trust. They are confident this will take place. The attitude seemed to be that now it was just a matter of procedural steps, for which they have both ample resources and patience.
This is very troubling, because as one the speakers at the Chumash meeting, Carl Artman — then Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs for the U.S. Department of the Interior — made clear in his letter of May 12, 2008, to U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, once the land is in trust, a tribe can essentially do whatever it desires.
Here is an excerpt from that letter:
“The Dehesa community would like the Department of the Interior to re-examine a fee-to-trust application for an 82.85-acre parcel of land that was taken into trust for the tribe in 2004, because the actual use of the land (parking lot for casino) is different from the proposed use at the time of acquisition (housing) ... Although we understand the community’s concern, once land is taken into trust, the department is not authorized to reconsider its decision because land cannot be taken out of trust without congressional authorization. … In addition, the department has been reluctant in the past to take any action to eliminate the flexibility that Indian tribes enjoy to change the use of trust lands, both because it is an aspect of tribal sovereignty, and because it is a needed tool to adapt to changed economic conditions.”
These excerpted statements by Mr. Artman could not be clearer. It does not matter what the tribe says. Once land is transferred into trust, they can do whatever, forever.
I do not believe that the regulations authorizing fee-to-trust — and referring to the immediate need to provide land for homeless Indians for the purpose of creating subsistence homesteads — could possibly have anticipated the potential of wealthy tribes taking advantage of the system in situations like we face today.
We will be reaching out to you as events unfold with information and calls to action. Your ideas and suggestions are always welcome.
 
Cathie McHenry is president of Women’s Environmental Watch.