"Gamblers tell you there are no sure things, but it's a near certainty that a deal made this week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would increase pressure for a vast and ill-advised expansion of casino gambling in California.

Schwarzenegger signed an agreement with an Indian tribe from the Sierra Nevada that wants to open a casino about 35 miles away, along Highway 99 near Fresno, and share some of the profits with the Wiyot tribe from Humboldt County, even further from the San Joaquin Valley.

Significant obstacles remain before the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians can proceed with the state's first off-reservation casino.

The land must be taken into trust by the federal government, which has promised greater scrutiny of casinos proposed more than a "commutable distance" from a reservation. State legislators -- many of them opposed to urban casinos -- must approve the compact. And some casino-operating tribes and anti-gambling groups already are saying the plan would clear the way for reservation shopping by other tribes.

Schwarzenegger also must reconcile the deal with his own policy, announced in 2005, which states that he will not negotiate with tribes unless they own land that is federally eligible for gambling. He also said he would oppose casinos in urban areas away from traditional tribal lands.

On this score, the governor's first roll of the dice came up snake eyes."

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Editorial: Gambling obstacles (The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat 4/30)