Editorial: California tribes go reservation shopping for casinos

Indian gambling in California has exploded well beyond the "modest increase" voters were promised when they approved casino gambling just 13 years ago.

While most casinos are still in remote locations, a new push by tribes to buy additional land at lucrative freeway locations threatens to kick off a whole new Indian casino land rush. The Legislature should reduce that threat by rejecting a pair of ill-conceived gambling compacts.

Two tribes, the Enterprise Rancheria near Oroville and the North Fork Rancheria near Fresno, won approval from President Barack Obama's interior secretary last year to acquire land more than 30 miles from their original reservations. Gov. Jerry Brown unwisely concurred in that decision and has negotiated gambling compacts with the tribes.