"The Warm Springs tribes were going to build a casino somewhere in the gorge, either on trust land they have long owned near Hood River, where no one wanted to see a casino, or inside an industrial park at Cascade Locks, where it is welcomed by townspeople.

Federal law virtually guarantees tribes the right to build casinos on land -- such as the Hood River parcel -- in tribal hands before Congress approved the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988. The governor's choice on a Columbia River Gorge casino boiled down to this: Hood River or Cascade Locks?

He made the right decision. The full details of the agreement were not available Tuesday, but the tribes will close their casino at Kah-Nee-Ta, preserving the state's one-tribe, one-casino principle, grant easements to protect the Hood River property in perpetuity, and share some portion of casino's revenue with the state."

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The hand Oregon was dealt (The Oregonian 4/6)