Colville put plan into motion for Tri-Cities 1st tribal casino, travel stop
The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation took a major step toward opening a casino and travel center in Pasco by initiating a federal process to transfer land to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The tribes confirmed this week they submitted an application for the fee-to-trust transfer of tribe-owned property in Pasco to the BIA regional office in Portland.
The request will be handled through the Office of Indian Gaming and could take three to five years, Jarred-Michael Erickson, chairman of the Colville, told the Tri-City Herald earlier this week.
“We’re pleased to announce this important milestone in our efforts to enhance economic development for the Colville Tribes,” Erickson said in a subsequent press release.
The Colville paid $2.9 million for 184 acres north of King City Truck Stop and east of Highway 395, part of a regional effort to acquire lands through its traditional territories.
Economic opportunity
The casino and travel center will bolster opportunity for the tribes, which has an enrollment of approximately 9,520 members and is based in Nespelem. The Colville operate casinos under the “12 Tribes” brand at Lake Chelan, Omak and Coulee Dam.
The vision seeks to connect the Palus, one of its 12 individual tribes, to its traditional territory along the Columbia and Snake rivers.
The Colville consider the area now known as eastern Washington state and parts of Canada part of the territories once claimed by the member tribes: Chelan, Chief Joseph Band of Nez Perce, Colville, Eniat, Lakes, Methow, Moses-Columbia, Okanoga, Palus, San Poil and Wenatchi.
It has also purchased land in Moses Lake, Methow, Wenatchee and is scrutinizing sites in Canada, Erickson said.
The fee-to-trust process will remove the Pasco property from Franklin County tax rolls and by extension, exempt it from paying the property taxes that support the municipal services it will require.
Pasco relationship
In 2019, the Colville and the city of Pasco reached an agreement to cooperate on the future development.
The city will likely provide municipal services such as police and fire coverage and will be reimbursed by the tribes in a process similar to the payments in lieu of taxes the federal government pays to offset the loss of property taxes for the Hanford nuclear reservation.
The city reaffirmed its support in an April 14 letter to Erickson, signed by Mayor Blanche Barajas.
“We enthusiastically support the Tribes’ Pasco Project and will continue to express that support whenever possible. We look forward to the success of the Tribes’ work to transfer its property here into trust status, the first step in making this exciting Project a reality,” she wrote on city letterhead.
Adam Lincoln, Pasco’s city manager, said the city is learning about the process of partnering with the Colville, but said the tribes have been good citizens since acquiring the property.
Pasco visitor center
Billy Gunn, Pasco project manager for the Colville, regularly attends civic events, including Pasco Chamber of Commerce gatherings.
The Colville participate in the Pasco Farmer’s Market and Gunn spends several days each week working in a modest trailer that houses his office and visitor center. It is on tribe-owned land on Kartchner Street across from Love’s Travel Stop.
The Colville invite visitors. The trailer is nondescript, but the interior showcases pieces of the region’s natural and cultural history.
A female wolf, which was taxidermied after she died while wearing a tracking collar, greets visitors by the door. She was retrieved when monitors noticed she’d stopped moving. She apparently died of natural causes.
The Colville plan for Pasco drew a sharp rebuke from the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, which claim the property is part of the Yakama’s ancestral territory. In 2020, shortly after Pasco and the Colville signed the nonbinding agreement, the Yakamas asked Pasco city officials to end talks.
Lincoln said there has been no further communication since then.
Public comment period
Cody Desautel, executive director of the Colville, said the federal review process will address objections to its casino plans.
The deed of trust conversion process includes an environmental review, which offers the public and tribes a chance to comment. The federal government will be obligated to respond to questions, he said.
“These things are fairly rare, but there have been several since the 1988 Tribal Gaming Act,” Desautel said. “There’s a lot of experience in dealing with these conflicts.”
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