TWENTYNINE PALMS - One year ago, the Twentynine Palms Band of Mission Indians embarked on an ambitious plan to build a 60,000-square-foot casino and campground on its 160-acre reservation near Joshua Tree National Park.

The goal was to have the Nuwu Casino Resort and RV Park built within a year, but today, the area near Adobe and Base Line roads still sits undeveloped. The multi-phased project tribal officials said would create hundreds of new jobs and generate millions of dollars in annual revenue for the city remains only a vision for the tribe.

A confluence of environmental and economic factors, including the discovered presence of the desert tortoise on the project site and the flagging economy, have hindered the project's timeline, officials said.

"They are definitely facing some biological issues and are facing a downward economy, which is an obvious distraction in the project," Twentynine Palms City Manager Michael Tree said. "We're hoping their issues could be resolved."

It is unclear just exactly when the project will get off the ground, but tribal officials announced on the Web site 500nations.com a planned opening date of April 1.

Tribal Chairman Darrell Mike was unavailable for comment.

Surveyors discovered the presence of the desert tortoise on the project site during an environmental study commissioned by the tribe, Tree said.

Other environmental concerns have arisen as well. Project coordinator Pat Flanagan

expressed in a letter to the tribe that the casino complex is being built on an alluvial fan which drains from Joshua Mountain toward the Oasis of Mara, and that the casino is "the first real impediment to the natural flow of water down the fan."

"We are suggesting that as the planning goes forward, every consideration be given to allowing the natural drainage to continue to the oasis to preserve the existing surface vegetation and possible recharging opportunities," Flanagan said in his letter.

As the tribe continues to grapple with the issues surrounding its Twentynine Palms casino project, it has shifted its focus on pending projects at its Spotlight 29 Casino in Coachella, Tree said.

Since the discovery of the desert toroise on the tribe's land in Twentynine Palms, little has happened.

Tribal officials met with representatives of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the summer and had a brief meeting on the potential impacts the casino project would have on tortoise habitat. Since then, the tribe has had no further contact with Fish and Wildlife officials, said Lois Grunwald, spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Service's Ventura office.

"We agreed to work with them so that they could do their project and comply with the endangered species act in regards to the tortoise," said Grunwald. "They said they would get back to us, but we haven't heard back from them since that first preliminary meeting."

joe.nelson@inlandnewspapers.com
(909) 386-3874