How to resolve AdBlock issue? LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A Lake County tribe’s lawsuit against the federal government over a casino project is moving forward, with evidence against the plan by opposing tribes to be considered.
On Tuesday, Judge Trevor McFadden of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled on the Lakeport-based Scotts Valley Pomo’s effort to get a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Department of Interior over the agency’s March suspension of a gaming eligibility determination for the tribe’s Vallejo project.
Scotts Valley plans to build a $700 million, 400,000-square-foot mega casino complex, along with 24 homes and an administrative building, on a 128-acre site near I-80 and Highway 37.
In January, the Department of Interior, while still under the Biden Administration, approved Scotts Valley’s fee-to-trust proposal for the project. The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, among the project’s opponents, said the January action by Interior was “an 11-hour Biden Administration decision to give the ancestral lands of local Patwin tribes to Scotts Valley.”
However, two months later, with the Trump administration in place, Interior withdrew that determination in order to reevaluate the relevant evidence. Scotts Valley filed its lawsuit on April 1.
In his Tuesday decision, Judge McFadden did not grant the preliminary injunction but indicated that he intends to resolve the matter expeditiously while also confirming that the tribe’s property in Vallejo remains in federal trust.
“We are very confident in the strength of our legal position,” said Scotts Valley Chairman Shawn Davis. “The court’s order allows the case to move forward quickly, and we are fully prepared to defend the integrity of the department’s original decision, which recognized our historical connection to this land and our eligibility to pursue economic development through gaming.”
The Yocha Dehe have argued that Interior’s process has been deeply flawed and unfair. They maintain that, contrary to federal law, policy and practice, that decision did not consider any of the extensive evidence submitted by other tribes — including local Patwin people. Instead, they said that the Department of the Interior disregarded widespread opposition from tribes, local governments, state and federal government officials, and thousands of concerned citizens.
In response to the decision, the Yocha Dehe said that Scotts Valley’s preliminary injunction, had Judge McFadden granted it, would have prevented Interior from considering comments and evidence submitted by local tribes.
The Yocha Dehe said McFadden’s decision to deny the preliminary injunction will allow the Department of the Interior to consider historical documentation demonstrating that the site of Scotts Valley’s proposed casino development project lies within the ancestral territory of the Patwin people.
“This decision properly rejects Scotts Valley’s efforts to silence our tribe and other Patwin people, who have worked for generations to protect the lands, waters, and cultural resources in Vallejo and surrounding areas of our ancestral territory. We have long advocated for a fair, transparent, fact-based review of Scotts Valley’s proposed project and we look forward to DOI taking a close look at the full evidentiary record,” said Yocha Dehe Chairman Anthony Roberts.
“We are confident that a fair look at the evidence will show Scotts Valley’s claims cannot be sustained. These are not their lands and they never were,” Chairman Roberts continued.
The Yocha Dehe said that Interior previously determined — on three separate occasions — that Scotts Valley lacks a significant historical connection to the Bay Area, one of the prerequisites for the band’s efforts to build a casino there.
The reconsideration will allow Interior to consider input from concerned stakeholders on the land’s qualifications for gaming, the Yocha Dehe tribe said.
The Tuesday ruling does not address the merits of the Scotts Valley tribe’s legal challenge, which is now set to proceed on an expedited briefing schedule.
The tribe said it continues to work diligently with its partners and the community to move forward while the court case advances toward resolution.
“This ruling represents one step in the process, and it brings us closer to having our rights upheld by the court,” Davis added. “Our land remains in trust, our commitment remains strong, and our resolve remains unshaken.”
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