Opposition Letters

OPPOSITION LETTERS

August 13, 2024

The Department of the Interior's Response to to Chairman Westerman

As codified at 25 USC §2719, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) generally prohibits gaming on lands acquired in trust after October 17, 1988, with exceptions only as specified in that provision. The IGRA’s general prohibition is the primary barrier for Tribes seeking to have land taken into trust for gaming.

Tribal Alliance Opposition Letter to Secretary Haaland

To the extent you have not yet reached the conclusion that the Coquille Project, if approved, would violate the substance and intent of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, and would cause irreparable harm to regional Tribal communities, we invite you to travel to our homelands and consult with our elected leaders about how the Coquille Project would impact each of our Tribal nations and peoples.

Opposition Letter from Representatives Blumenauer, Huffman, Salinas to Secretary Haaland

We write today to urge you to reject the Coquille Indian Tribe’s application to have land taken into trust under the restored lands exception to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), for the development of a new Class II casino in Medford, Oregon.

Opposition Letter from Senator Butler to Secretary Haaland

I write today to urge you to decline the Coquille Indian Tribe’s (Coquille) application to have land taken into trust under the restored lands exemption for gaming to open a second casino…

Opposition Letter from Senators Wyden and Merkley to Secretary Haaland

We write today to urge you to reject the Coquille Indian Tribe’s application to have land taken into trust under the restored lands exception to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).

Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations Letter to Assistant Secretary Newland

...we write to urge you to work with the Coquille Indian Tribe to resubmit their application using the two-part determination process.

Opposition Letter from California Nations Indian Gaming Association

CNIGA...asks that you work with Coquille to resubmit their application using the two-part determination process.

Opposition Letter from Oregon Governor Tina Kotek

[M]y policy on Tribal gaming facilities maintains the status quo from past governors, i.e., good faith bargaining between sovereign Tribes and the State on one gaming facility per tribe on reservation land.

Opposition Letter from U.S. Representative Cliff Bentz, Oregon

[F]urther economic development for the Coquille should not come at the cost of safety, opportunity, or economic development for Medford and its surrounding communities.

Opposition Letter from Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon

The development of second casinos off reservation, closer to urban populations, will demand that Oregon tribes, whose on-reservation casinos are impacted, seek their own off-reservation casinos.

Opposition Letter from Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation

We do not lightly oppose economic development initiatives by other Indian tribes, but such projects cannot be developed without strict compliance with federal law.

Opposition letter from Northern California Tribal Chairpersons Association (NCTCA)

This proposal is being considered under a deeply irregular process which disregards congressional intent, negatively impacts a number of Tribes located in the region, and could set a damaging precedent.

Opposition Letter from U.S. Congressman LaMalfa

[T]he proposal is widely opposed in the region and would have a significant negative impact on communities and tribes in both California and Oregon. The Department should once again reject this dubious proposal.

Testimony from Gail Hatcher, Vice-Chair of Klamath Tribes

A casino in Medford would be devastating to our tribe here in Klamath County. That casino would cause a lose of employment, not only to tribal members, but to nontribal as well.

Opposition Letter from U.S. Congressman Huffman

We believe that the CRA was not meant to to benefit one tribe over others.

Letter from U.S. Senators Wyden, Merkley, Feinstein, and Padilla

Allowing this case to supersede the established process defined by IGRA could destabilize the system and weaken public confidence in the framework that has helped so many tribes find economic independence.

Letter from Elk Valley Rancheria, California

We urge you to oppose the Coquille application for acquisition of land in trust for gaming purposes in Medford, Oregon.

Opposition Letter from Oregon Governor Barbara Roberts

I am deeply concerned by the Coquille Tribe's attempt to open a casino in Medford and thereafter throughout southern Oregon, without any meaningful opportunity for formal input from the State of Oregon.

Letter from U.S. Representatives Bonamici, Blumenauer, and Schrader

Opposition from the state, city, and country to a casino far-removed from the Coquille ancestral lands (and their restored lands reservations) should give the agency great pause about this application.

Opposition Letter from Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber

My "one casino per tribe" policy direction and gaming compacts entered into between the State and the tribes...[attempts] to strike a balance between tribal pursuit of economic enterprise and a check on the expansion of gambling in our State.

Opposition Letter from Oregon Governor Kate Brown

I do not believe that an expansion in the number of casinos sited in Oregon is in the best interests of the State or her people.

Second Opposition Letter from Karuk Tribe

[T]ribes in Michigan and the Sacramento, California areas are also watching this matter because it promises to jump-start a gaming implosion in Indian Country if Coquille's request, and similar ones to follow, are given the green light.

Letter from U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, Representative Pete DeFazio

When it comes to gaming, tribes must follow the requirements of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (GRA).

Letter from Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians

We believe that if Congress wanted to direct the Secretary to accept land within the tribe's service area in trust as a mandatory acquisition, it would have done so explicitly.

Letter from Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan

There are other tribes in the state of Michigan who have acts of restoration similar to the Coquille Restoration Act, and if that restoration act is read broadly, these tribes would look to pursue the same course of action as Coquille; they would see to go far outside their aboriginal lands to locations that are in another tribes aboriginal territory.

Opposition Letter from U.S. Senators Wyden, and Merkley

Oregon's careful balance between producing gambling revenues and a focus on the public good of our citizens could be seriously compromised.