Jan
12
2011
The U.S. Department of Interior's Record of Decision for the Trust Acquisition of and Reservation Proclamation for the Cowlitz Indian Tribe is available on Matthew Fletcher's Turtle Talk blog. Thanks to folks that responded to our request to get a copy of the ROD! Here's an excerpt from the summary:Trust Lands
Happy New Year, and Clues About Carcieri
Jan
3
2011
Happy New Year! We're excited to continue blogging on Indian gaming law, policy, and politics in 2011. And the hints are that we should see some significant developments in 2011.Response to Feinstein's Editorial
Dec
11
2010
Merlene Sanchez, Chairwoman of the Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians (see one of the guest posts by Kathryn's Indian Gaming Law students in June for more on the Band and its efforts to open a casino), had this to say about Senator Dianne Feinstein's proposed amendment:"'Restored land' tribes are not 'reservation shopping' as Feinstein wrongfully stated. Reservation shopping applies to tribes with existing reservations that shop for new lands to develop a more profitable casino site. There currently are no active 'reservation shopping' proposals in the Bay Area. Feinstein claimed that 'restored lands' projects in urban areas, like our tribe's proposal for Point Molate, defy California and federal law. That is simply untrue."
Feinstein on "Reservation Shopping"
Dec
8
2010
"It's time to say 'enough is enough' to reservation shopping," wrote Senator Dianne Feinstein in a guest editorial in the Contra Costa Times. As we've explained, "reservation shopping" is a loaded term -- one of those soundbites that catches on and gets used to describe all sorts of situations, whether fairly or not. "Reservation shopping" conjures up images of an unsavory backroom deal, where tribes compromise interests in "real" Indian lands for an ideally located casino. Loaded and frequently misused terms like "reservation shopping" are difficult to unpack -- often, the hardest question is where to start. So, we offer a few starting points for thinking critically about Feinstein's amendment.More on the Feinstein Amendment
Dec
6
2010
Despite the slew of criticism from folks in the know, a recent editorial in the Oakland (CA) Tribune praises the Feinstein amendment (see our earlier posts on why we think this amendment is unnecessary at best and ill-conceived at worst). The editorial lauds the amendment as a much-needed constraint on "inappropriate casino plans" borne of the "now-common 'reservation shopping' in which small
landless tribes look for prime urban property far from their original
homelands for casinos."Sen. Feinstein Attracting Criticism for Carcieri Amendment
Dec
3
2010
We reported earlier on an amendment to the much-needed Carcieri fix that would limit gaming on newly acquired lands by adding further requirements for the land-into-trust process. The amendment, championed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is garnering much criticism from tribes.Support for a "Clean" Carcieri Fix
Nov
27
2010
We've been saying for some time now that the politics of off-reservation gaming are muddying the waters of the Carcieri fix. Over a year ago, North Dakota's own Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) introduced a bill to fix the U.S. 