Editorial: Let Goshute Tribe in Utah open a casino

Monday, December 12, 2005  

"While Utah has plenty of good reasons for wanting the nuclear waste to stay where it is, none of them will really matter unless the Goshutes can be given something else to build up their tribe. If Utah and the Indians can work together to find a way to build up the tribe's fortunes, the state would gain a powerful ally. It wouldn't matter so much whether court decisions were lost or whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission decided against Utah. If the Goshutes can say no, the deal would be dead.

A solution will require some imagination. This is one area where Gov. Huntsman's experience as a trade representative could come in handy. Surely he has contacts among venture capitalists and companies that could be brought to bear. But it's a long shot in a big desert.

It may be time to consider Indian gaming, assuming the Goshutes want it. It's about the only thing that comes to mind that could generate revenues comparable to or greater than nuclear waste storage.

Fears that casinos would become widespread seem misplaced. We see no reason casinos could not be contained -- as a narrowly tailored quid pro quo -- to Skull Valley alone and not spread to all of Utah's Indian tribes."

Get the Story:
In our view: Why not a Goshute casino? (The Provo Daily Herald 12/11)