Dry Creek Rancheria still facing questions over potential casino

Wednesday, November 20, 2013  

The Dry Creek Rancheria of California isn't pursuing a second casino but local officials don't trust the tribe's intentions.

The tribe's land-into-trust application for a 277-acre site won't include gaming, Chairman Harvey Hopkins said. Plans call for housing and other development.

“I think a lot of people don't trust Indian tribes,” Hopkins told The Petaluma Argus-Courier. “I feel like it stems from a lack of understanding about our ways. But we're a regular government and fee-to-trust is just one of our regular government protocols.”

Officials on the Petaluma City Council and the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors have been trying to get more information about the tribe's plans. But they say the Bureau of Indian Affairs hasn't received an application from the tribe.

“The BIA is there to assist the tribes, and does little to keep communities in the know," Sonoma County Counsel Bruce Goldstein told the paper. "We've learned painfully and expensively that we have limited control over the BIA's decisions on whether they approve a trust application.”

Get the Story:
Distrust brewing over tribe's land (The Petaluma Argus-Courier 11/19)

Dry Creek Band expects loss with new Graton Rancheria casino (10/21)