Indian Gaming > County blasts delays in BIA's casino review process

October 5, 2007

County blasts delays in BIA's casino review process

INDIANZ.COM LISTENING LOUNGE
Senate Indian Affairs Committee on backlogs at the Department of the Interior.
• Opening Statements

• Panel 1: Carl Artman | Q&A

• Panel 2 | Q&A [includes more of Carl Artman]

• Webcast | Written Testimony

An official from Madera County, California, criticized the Bureau of Indian Affairs on Thursday for failing to move forward with an environmental impact statement for a proposed casino.

The county worked with the North Fork Rancheria on the casino site. But for an unknown reason, the BIA has yet to release the EIS even though it has been ready for nine months, county supervisor Frank Bigelow told the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.

"The process has been stopped," Bigelow testified, "and we do not know why."

Jacquie Davis-Van Huss, the chairwoman of tribe, attended the hearing. "We're hoping this breaks open the logjam," she told The Sacramento Bee.

Get the Story:
Casino delays anger tribe (The Sacramento Bee 10/5)
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BIA logjam draws ire of Congress (The Beloit Daily News 10/5)