Exclusive: 2 tribes want to open casinos in Tri-Cities. Conflict brewing over who is 1st
Two Washington tribes want to bring the state’s $3.1 billion tribal gaming industry to the Tri-Cities.
The race is on to open the area’s first tribal casino, but the competing interests could in theory produce two.
The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation took the lead in 2019 when they bought land in Pasco and disclosed ideas for a casino, travel plaza and possibly a water park.
The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation recently revived objections to the Colville plan on treaty grounds, while disclosing that they too intend to site their second casino in the Tri-Cities.
The tribe is actively scouting suitable locations in Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, officials told the Tri-City Herald.
“The Colvilles have three casinos. We only have one,” Gerald Lewis, chair of the Yakama Nation, told the Herald, referring to Legends Casino & Hotel in Toppenish. “This is the big issue we are having.”
The Colville recently confirmed they initiated the development process by submitting a request to transfer 184 acres near Pasco’s King City Truck Stop into a federal trust.
Lewis called the move by the Colville “upsetting” in a letter to the Herald, after it wrote about the fee-to-trust news.
The 16-step federal procedure is managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and handled through the Indian Gaming Commission. The process for establishing tribal casinos is spelled out in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.
The act authorized tribal casinos in states that don’t ban them, a group that includes Washington, Oregon and Idaho.
There are reportedly 474 tribal casinos in 29 states. Washington has 29, which are operated by 22 tribes. They are generally concentrated in Western Washington and around Spokane and points north.
Both the Colville and Yakama claim the Pasco area through the Palouse Tribe. Palouse tribal members still affiliate with both.
The Yakama note the Palouse were signatories to its 1855 treaty with the U.S. government. It says the Colville don’t have rights to the territory the Yakama ceded in the treaty.
“Because Colville’s rights don’t extend to Pasco, this means they do not have the tribal right to open a casino in Pasco, and they never will,” he wrote.
The Colville consider Eastern Washington and parts of Canada part of the territories claimed by its own 12 member tribes, which includes the Palouse or Palus.
Big gaming profits
The stakes are huge. Last year, tribal gaming netted $3.1 billion, according to figures compiled for the 2023 Legislature by the Washington State Gambling Commission.
That’s almost 80% of the $3.9 billion in net gambling receipts in 2022, a figure that includes $344 million tallied from the Washington State Lottery.
The Tri-Cities has casinos, but none operated by a tribe. The two nearest, Wildhorse Casino and Resort in Pendleton and Legends Casino & Hotel in Toppenish, are more than an hour’s drive from Kennewick.
The former is operated by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, the latter by the Yakamas.
The Colville have three casinos operating under the 12 Tribes name in Chelan, Grand Coulee and Omak, all nearly three or more hours away.
The Colville explain that the Pasco casino will provide support services to its 9,500 members.
Casino revenue is important to the Yakama too. Lewis said up to 80% of the nearly 11,000 enrolled members work for or are related to someone who works at Legends, which hosts gaming, concerts, boxing matches and has a hotel.
Colville in Pasco
The Nespelem-based Colville paid $2.9 million for the Pasco property, which is near Highway 395. A small office and visitor center operate in a trailer on the property, facing Love’s Travel Stop on Kartchner Street.
The Colville announced plans to open a casino, travel stop and possibly a water park shortly after the land deal closed.
The city of Pasco has a nonbinding agreement to cooperate with the Colville as they develop their land. Pasco Mayor Blanche Barajas reiterated its commitment in an April 2023 letter tied to the fee-to-trust news.
The agreement is needed because moving the Colville property into a federal trust will remove it from the Franklin County tax rolls. The nonbinding agreement commits the city and Colville to work on a plan that will compensate the city for law enforcement and other municipal services.
Pasco City Manager Adam Lincoln confirmed the city continues to discuss logistics with the Colville. The city’s elected council would be equally interested in talking to the Yakamas, though it has not yet been contacted.
“I don’t believe that the city has put itself in a position to in any way impact the relationship that exists between the Yakama Nation and the Colville,” he said.
Environmental review
The Colville, when asked about Yakama objections, note the federal fee-to-trust process includes an environmental impact review that will offer the public, including the Yakama, an opportunity to comment.
Decision makers must respond to comments and decide based on law, what is in the best interest of the tribe, the community and neighboring tribes.
The 1988 gaming act allowed tribes to open casinos on land that was held in trust at the time the gaming act passed. After 1988, tribes could buy land outside reservations and submit it to the fee-to-trust process, which can take several years.
That’s the process the Colville recently initiated for its Pasco property.
The process is federal, but state governors have a say. Gov. Jay Inslee will be out of office by the time the Colville request is processed, but Democrats have been supportive of tribal casinos in the past.
In 2016, Inslee supported the Spokane Tribe’s plan to build its Airway Heights casino. Before Inslee, Gov. Gary Locke approved the Kalispel tribe’s bid to open Northern Quest Casino, also in Airway Heights.
Casinos generate jobs, according to the gambling commission. Approximately 9,600 people are currently certified and/or licensed to work in casinos in Washington, it said.
