Indian Gaming

The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians in California is paying close attention to the desert tortoise as it moves forward with a new casino.

The Tortoise Rock Casino will be located on a 32-acre site of tribal land. The tribe is already building an "exclusion fence" to prevent the tortoise from being harmed by the development.

“As the project site does not contain desert tortoises and an exclusion fence would restrict desert tortoises from entering the development area, the construction/operation of the proposed project is not anticipated to result in direct significant, adverse impacts to desert tortoises,” the tribe said in an environmental report.

The tribe could break ground on the 30,000-square-foot casino next month. It could be open by November.

The tribe operates the Spotlight 29 Casino on a different part of its land base.

Get the Story:
EIR: Casino will avoid tortoises (The Hi-Desert Sun 2/7)
Casino planned near base (The Riverside Press-Enterprise 2/7)

Related Stories:
Editorial: Welcome Twenty-Nine Palms Band casino to region (1/31)