Editorial: Governor breaks promise on off-reservation casinos

Since the enactment of the 1988 federal law formally accepting and recognizing Indian gambling, the federal government has with scant exceptions only allowed Native American tribes to build casinos on the reservation land they controlled as of 1988. Now, without nearly enough public debate, California could be on the brink of a much more freewheeling approach.

Gov. Jerry Brown — with the blessing of federal regulators and the approval of the Legislature — has negotiated a compact for construction of a $350 million, 2,000-slot machine casino by the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians in Madera County on land near the Highway 99 freeway that the tribe only recently acquired. The tribe developed the Central Valley project in cooperation with Station Casinos, a Nevada gaming firm looking to expand into California.

Brown also wants legislative approval of a similar casino to be operated by the Enterprise Rancheria of the Estom Yumeka Maidu on land the tribe recently acquired in Yuba County, 50 miles from its Northern California reservation.