By SUE RYAN
News staff writer
February 27, 2008

Tribal members and town residents jammed into the port pavilion building for a community barbecue Friday in Cascade Locks.

The occasion was a joint meeting put on by the port and city to share information about the proposed Bridge of the Gods Casino and Resort project. Nearly 200 people filled the pavilion.

The meeting was an update for citizens since the Draft Environmental Impact Statement was published in the federal register Feb. 15. Five public hearings have been set for March.

The release comes with a 90-day comment period, which ends May 15.

But the Friday evening session wasn’t to take formal comments although many who attended seemed to think so.

“Under what legal standing, whose authority, are you taking testimony?” asked Denise Root, a member of the Yakama Indian Nation.

Since 1998, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs has been trying to build a casino in the Columbia Gorge.

During that time; the proposed site has moved from one location to another and weathered political maelstroms to make it to this point.

The final plans may be modified somewhat, but the tribes are proposing a $389 million, 603,000-square-foot riverfront destination resort and casino on 60 acres in the Port of Cascade Locks industrial park.

A small portion of that building is the actual gambling operation at 90,000 square feet. The remainder includes a 241-room hotel, 26,000-square-foot meeting and convention facility, spa and fitness center, retail shops, cultural and interpretive center, daycare facility and a variety of dining options.

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement is not a final decision document but rather a step in the process. The study is part of a requirement under the National Environmental Policy Act. As part of NEPA, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has determined that an Environmental Impact Statement is needed.

The NEPA process design is meant to ensure that environmental information is available to public officials and citizens before decisions are made. The EIS encompasses documenting the environmental, social and economic consequences of the proposed project and new interchange.

After the public weighs in on the DEIS, the next stage of the process involves review of the comments, a final EIS and then a record of decision on the proposed fee-to-trust action.

This is a federal government action because to develop the resort and casino, the tribes are seeking to place in trust 25 acres of Cascade Locks land as part of a 2005 agreement with the state.

Under that memorandum of understanding, the tribes agreed to build the project in Cascade Locks instead of on trust lands near Hood River.

Presenters held question-and-answer sessions following each presentation. Port of Cascade Locks director Chuck Daughtry advised citizens, whether for or against the project, to make sure their comments have substantive value to be considered by officials.

Copies of the DEIS are available online at www.gorge
casinoeis.com, at the Hood River County Administration building and at the Hood River County Library. Written comments can also be sent in if citizens don’t testify at the public hearings.