Judge Rules Against Butte County – Mechoopda Casino Plans Move Forward

Two years ago Butte County filed suit against the National Indian Gaming Commission and the Department of the Interior claiming that the agencies could not grant the Chico Rancheria Mechoopda the right to use land along Hwy 149 about a mile east of Hwy 99 to build a casino because the Mechoopda did not qualify as a tribe.

Yesterday U.S. District Court Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. dismissed the county's suit.

At the outset, the county said the lawsuit, which cost them nearly $322,800, was about environmental concerns related to the proposed casino site and not an attack on the Mechoopda…but yet the lawsuit is based on their claim that the tribe is not legit?

Hmmm…. Which is it?

The county’s case used a study conducted in 2006 by Professor Stephen Dow Beckham, of Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore., which concluded that the Chico Rancheria unit of the Mechoopda Indians was “not a tribe in any meaningful sense but was an amalgamation of 11 groups that had little or nothing to do with the historic Mechoopda tribe.”

That doesn’t sound like it has anything to do with possible environmental issues.

The Judge, in his decision, wrote," The court has considered the briefing, scoured the record, and pressed the parties on this issue during oral argument. Having done so, the court cannot find the county has done enough to justify setting aside the agencies' actions here.”

The tribe says it will now begin the process of working on a compact with the state.

Butte County is considering an appeal to the decision.

Source:
http://www.chicoer.com/news/oroville/ci_12136664