The phrase “agree to disagree” is on the verge of being meaningless, politically.
    So let us apply it now, while we can, in the case of the Cascade Locks casino issue.
    The parties involved in the Gorge casino dispute, now into its second decade, should put aside their differences and lobby for one (not so) simple action by the federal government.

This is a plea for neither a yea or a nay on the casino. We speak for the community at large in calling on the Department of the Interior to make a decision on the pending Cascade Locks Environmental Impact Statement.

This document, and a decision on it, has been moldering in D.C. for several years, serving no one’s purposes. No ability to make plans for or without a casino is possible until Interior takes firm action. Locals on either side of the question should lean on the feds, and say, “One way or another, make up your mind.”

The folks from No Casino should sit down with Confederate Tribes of Warm Springs representatives, the officials from the City of Cascade Locks, the Port of Cascade Locks, Hood River County, and all other stakeholders, to figure out a way to take care of this business: convince Interior to give the matter closure.

The agency should be made to realize just how much is riding on the decision as to whether or not a gaming facility in Cascade Locks is in keeping with federal law.

The casino debate taxes our public resources and our sense of community. Cascade Locks is no island and a casino or other economic development proposals in that or any other town affect the entire Gorge.

The city and port of Cascade Locks want to get moving on ideas to bring jobs to the community (see article, page A1). Officials in Cascade Locks have made it clear they are determined to bring some kind of economic revival to Hood River County’s second city. They deserve credit for their persistence, just as those who oppose the casino deserve credit for standing up for their beliefs.

Further, the Warm Springs tribe has acted in good faith for years, following each step to provide information to Interior in support of its case. Further delay is a discredit to the Tribe and to the process.

Also, there exists the potential for a change in the political landscape when a new governor takes office in January 2011; action this year would forestall another four to eight years of uncertainty over the casino issue.

Interior must be convinced, this year, that there is work to be done in Cascade Locks and Hood River County. Interior must be shown that closure on the casino EIS gives the region the chance to work on other openings.