The next time you drive along Highway 190 toward the east end of Success Lake -- take the drive if you haven't yet -- stop in the parking lot of Antlers Bar, take a short walk east and then look at the hillside across the highway, the hills in the background, the steep terrain and the gulley down the center for rain flow.
Then imagine on the 75 acres in front of you an entertainment-recreation-hotel-gambling complex with parking structure, one the proportion of Circus-Circus or some other architectural monstrosity of Sin City fame.
Then imagine, right where you are standing, a multilevel interchange with on-ramps and off-ramps and signals to route traffic in and out of the new complex. 

Night never falls
Imagine bright neon lights around the clock along the 1/2-mile of frontage along Highway 190, flood lights at night shining into the sky, and advertisements all the way to Porterville. 

Casino patrons now on Reservation Road will be using Highway 190, causing bumper-to-bumper traffic along Success Lake. The noise will drive away wild animals. Sewage from the septic system will seep into Success Lake.
If you live nearby, don't think this won't drive your property value down.
According to Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, once property becomes part of a trust in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and specifically the property owned by the Tule River Indian Tribe along Highway 190, "that land is beyond the control of Congress" (letter from Rep. Nunes, April 6). 

"Indian tribes are recognized as autonomous governments and are afforded commensurate privileges. This includes blanket exemptions from most federal and local laws" (letter from Rep. Nunes, Nov. 17, 2003). 

Think about these statements. It means Tule tribe property development is under no regulatory agency and not subject to any prosecution for violations.
T 1FEE he question I have proposed to every local elected politician is: "Why not leave the casino where it is presently?" 

The response circumvents the issue. "I have not taken a position on the recent actions of the Tule River Tribe," wrote Rep. Nunes. Then he stated, "Casino relocation can be addressed in a manner that satisfies both local community concerns and tribal needs." The statements come out of both sides of his mouth.
My correspondence with state Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, contains the same double-talk. 

Looking for answers
Recently two informational hearings have been held by Tulare County supervisors, and yet they have not issued a formal statement regarding their position toward the relocation of the Eagle Mountain Casino.
As Supervisor Jim Maples stated to me, they have not yet received the final construction plans for the proposed facility. When they review the plans, then they will decide whether to support the relocation. 

But the Tule tribe is not spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on plans, and the transfer of more property to the BIA trust, and soil tests, just to be turned down by the Board of Supervisors. The future decision of the supervisors is only obvious: Approval with the condition that the Tule tribe minimize impact on the environment. 

We need to face the facts: Casinos play for keeps, not to lose.
Why is it not an option for politicians to leave the casino where it is presently located, rather than requiring the residents of Success Lake and Springville to deal with the impact of having a casino in their backyard? 

The economic, environmental and moral damage to Tulare County will be massive should the casino be relocated along Success Lake, and in a proportion that is not presently imaginable, and there will be no recourse by residents or the government, because of the status of the Tule tribe as a sovereign nation.
There is no valid reason for the Eagle Mountain Casino to expand off the reservation with 56,000 acres of land at their disposal.
Watch out 

And if you do decide to have a drink at Antlers while you are there, remember, there are a lot of California Highway Patrol officers along the narrow and winding highway back to Porterville. 

Daniel H. Shubin is a Springville resident, a free-lance writer and a mechanical engineer.