North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians

CA Senate Approves Casino Deal for North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians

Victoria Sweet

The 22-11 vote, which split members of both parties, will allow the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians to build a new casino with 2,000 slot machines on a 300-acre parcel just north of Madera in the Central Valley that was once slated to be a NASCAR track.

The deal was made possible through a rare federal approval process that allowed the tribe to build on land it has just recently acquired. Federal law stipulates that typically casinos can be build only on lands recognized as belonging to tribes before 1988, the year the federal government officially sanctioned tribal gambling.

The exception made for North Fork angered other neighboring and large casino-owning tribes around the state who said the North Fork were “reservation shopping.” The new location’s proximity to a major state highway and the city of Madera also touched off concerns about the encroachment of Indian casinos into urban areas.

Article here.

Previous coverage here.

Federal Court Rejects Carcieri/NEPA/Other Challenges to North Fork Rancheria Trust Acquisition

bryannewland4 Comments

Here are the materials in Stand Up for California! v. Dept. of Interior (D. D.C.):

Memorandum Opinion

Interior Motion to Change Venue

Stand Up Motion pt 1

Stand Up Motion pt 2

Stand Up Motion pt 3

Picayune Rancheria Memorandum

Interior Response to Picayune Memorandum

Interior Response

North Fork Rancheria Opposition

Picayune Reply

Stand Up Reply

Complaint Challening Trust Acquisition for North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the complaint in Stand Up for California v. DOI (D. D.C.):

Stand Up for California Complaint

An excerpt:

This “reservation shopping” case involves a dispute over the Secretary of the United States Department of Interior’s decision to acquire 305.49 acres (the “Casino Parcel”) in trust on behalf of the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians (the “North Fork Tribe” or the “Tribe”) under 25 U.S.C. § 465 for the purpose of enabling the Tribe to develop and operate a mega-casino funded by Las Vegas-based Station Casinos, Inc. (“Station Casinos”) almost 40 miles from the Tribe’s reservation. The Tribe already has ancestral lands in trust on which gambling can occur, and therefore the Secretary’s decision has been highly controversial and widely opposed. As is explained in detail below, the decision was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and was not in accordance with the federal policy strongly favoring on-reservation gambling, and the limited exception for off-reservation Indian gambling. Indeed, the Casino Parcel was strategically chosen adjacent to State Route 99 to provide easy access to nearby metropolitan areas with large numbers of potential gamblers.

 

Gov. Brown Concurs in Two 2-Part Determinations

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Governor Brown Concurs with U.S. Department of the Interior Decision, Signs Compact with North Fork Rancheria http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=17700
Governor Brown Concurs with U.S. Department of the Interior Decision, Signs Compact with Enterprise Rancheria http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=17699

NYTs Article on Inter-Tribal Conflicts Arising from Off-Reservation Gaming in California

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the article.

Idaho Supreme Court Decides Case re: Indian Child

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in In re Doe, involving members of the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians.