Plan for Off-Reservation Casino Causes Stir in Oregon

CASCADE LOCKS, Ore. — Not much goes on in this fading mill town in the Columbia River Gorge.

Asked to name the major industries here these days, Kelly Evans, the manager at River City Hardware, reflected a moment and answered: "Peace and quiet."

Though it's precisely that rustic charm that has spurred a fledgling tourist business here -- 40 miles or so east of Portland -- local, state and Indian leaders envision a much greater visitor lure on the horizon: a huge casino that they project could draw 3 million customers a year and reinvigorate the town's ailing economy.

The proposed casino, strongly backed by Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat, would be the first in Oregon built on non-Indian land and among just a handful of off-reservation Indian-owned gambling centers in the country.

The agreement the governor reached last month with the prospective owner and operator, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, has quickly become a major controversy in Oregon -- because of its precedent-setting potential as well as its proposed location in a town that calls itself the Heart of the Gorge.

Opponents say the idea is something close to blasphemy, because the Gorge, a spectacular ribbon of waterfalls, forested trails and stunning overlooks across the mighty Columbia, is a federally designated national scenic area, and it is intended to stay scenic.

But proponents, including the governor and tribal leaders, say a building can be designed in harmony with the view, and they point to a major benefit to the cash-strapped state government here: Under the agreement, 17% of casino profits would be turned over to the state for tuition and health programs. That could amount to $30 million or more annually.

At a signing ceremony here for the agreement last month, there were drums, tribal singing and an offering from the Cascade Locks School band, which played the overture from "The Lord of the Rings." An array of dignitaries spoke in favor of the casino.

Kulongoski said the plan was "put together to protect the environment, to grow the future of Oregon, which is our children, and at the same time, look out for growing the economy and to improving the quality of life for the people of this community."

The casino plan would have to clear some major hurdles before it could be constructed in an industrial-zoned area at the edge of town.