Opinion: County should oppose Chumash Tribe land-into-trust

Santa Ynez Valley Concerned Citizens represents approximately 1,000 households and is adamantly opposed to any negotiation or discussion between the Board of Supervisors and the Chumash concerning fee-to-trust/land annexation or development of the 1,400-acre Camp 4 property, regardless of the stated intentions for use.

The tribe is a private landowner as it relates to Camp 4. There is no tribal government status or element of sovereignty on these properties. By engaging in a government-to-government dialog, absent a BIA process, the Board of Supervisors would effectively and illegally infer governmental authority to the tribe.

Any future development of Camp 4 is unambiguously settled in the Santa Ynez Valley Community Plan, the official county government-sanctioned blueprint for development in our Valley, and it reflects the inputs, objectives and desires of Valley residents, taxpayers, businesses and government.