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Smoke Signals
JUNE 15, 2008
Rodeo sett tfoB J Mime 21 -22 inn Grannd Roirode
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
The ninth stop on the Northwest
Pro Rodeo Association circuit will
occur June 21-22 at the Grand Ronde
Rodeo Arena on the Tribal campus.
Events start at 6 p.m. Saturday,
June 21, and continue at 1 p.m.
Sunday, June 22. Attendees should
allow for about three hours of rodeo
events each day.
Competitions open to the public
will include the stick horse race,
junior ring toss, junior steer riding,
junior barrels, donkey races and calf
de-ribboning.
NPRA events will include bareback
riding, steer wrestling, saddle bronc
riding, team roping, bull riding,
women's barrel racing, calf roping
and breakaway roping.
Harold Lyon, chairman of the
Tribal Rodeo Special Event Board,
said that about 600 people attended
last year's rodeo, but organizers are
unsure how the escalating cost of gas
will affect this year's event.
"Attendance may be down," Lyon
said. "We're hoping it won't affect
our cowboys."
Scott Allen will be the announcer,
Ike Prior the clown and Tyler Braseth
the bullfighter. Stock contractor is
BO's P9 Rodeo.
Cost is $8 for adults and $5 for chil
dren 5 to 17 years of age. Children un
der 5 years of age are admitted free.
Vendors are still welcome on a first
come, first-served basis. Cost for both
days is $50 for nonTribal members and
free to Grand Ronde Tribal members.
"We've had a tremendous response
to our vendor requests," Lyon said.
A camping area is available north of
the Tribal rodeo grounds, and alcohol,
drugs and firearms are not permitted
on Tribal land. Dog are allowed only in
the camping area and on leashes.
The rodeo is sponsored by Spirit
Mountain Casino, the Grand Ronde
Tribe, Pepsi and Boyd's Coffee.
For more information about the
Northwest Pro Rodeo Association,
go to www.nwprorodeo.org on the
Internet or call Lyon at 971-237-5775.
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Photo by Toby McClary
Bull rider Brandon Stackhouse, from Grand Ronde, gets some "air time" on
his bull during the bull riding competition in 2007.
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'Flawed' Final Environmental Impact Statement IDs 'preferred alternative'
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
The Cowlitz Tribe's attempt to
obtain reservation land 15 miles
north of Portland off Interstate 5
on which to build a 1.183 million-square-foot
gaming, entertainment
and hotel complex and Tribal gov
ernmental offices took a procedural
step forward on May 30 when the
Department of Interior's Final Envi
ronmental Impact Statement picked
it as the preferred alternative.
However, casino opponents, in
cluding Citizens Against Reserva
tion Shopping and the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde, called the
Final Environmental Impact State
ment flawed.
"There are serious problems
with the FEIS which Grand Ronde
will be demonstrating in com
ments to the BIA," said Tribal
Attorney Rob Greene.
"Unless there has been a total
overhaul of this work since we
last saw it (a draft was released
in March 2007), the EIS remains
in serious trouble," said Ed Lynch,
chairman of Citizens Against Res
ervation Shopping.
"This is far from project approv
al," Tom Hunt, also with Citizens
Against Reservation Shopping,
said. "We could be years away from
a final decision."
Citizens Against Reservation
Shopping cites, among other flaws,
the city of Vancouver's criticism
that the final statement does not
consider alternative sites north of
Ln Center, which are closer to the
center of the Cowlitz Tribe's popu
lation and ancestral homelands.
According to the Final Environ
mental I mpact Statement, there are
approximately 3,550 Cowlitz Tribal
members and 1,136 or about
32 percent live farther north in
Cowlitz, Thurston and Pierce coun
ties in Washington state. Only 95
How to comment
Tribal members can send comments by June 30 regarding the Cowlitz
Indian Tribe Trust Acquisition and Casino Project Final Environmental
Impact Statement to:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Northwest
Regional Office, 911 N.E. 11th Ave., Portland, OR 97232.
Phone: 503-231-6749
Fax: 503-231-2275
The Final Environmental Impact Statement can be found on the Web
at www.cowlitzeis.com.
Cowlitz Tribal members 3 percent
live in Clark County, where the
Tribe proposes to site a reservation
and build a casino.
The Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde also opposes the Cowlitz's
attempt to gain reservation land
and build a casino in Clark County,
noting that the Cowlitz ancestral
homelands are
about 50 miles
farther north
near present
day Vader and
Toledo.
"Grand
Ronde con
siders Clark
County part of
its 'Non-Treaty
Homelands'
and 'Cultur
al Interest
Lands,' and has
or is consulting
with the Wash
ington Depart
ment of Archaeology and Historic
Preservation, the Washington De
partment of Transportation and
other agencies on various projects
in Clark County," the Tribe said in
comments submitted to the Bureau
of Indian Affairs in July 2006 re
garding the Cowlitz Trust Acquisi
tion and Casino Project.
The Grand Ronde Tribe also ex-
"There are serious
problems with the
FEIS which Grand
Ronde will be demon
strating in comments
to the BIA."
Tribal Attorney
Rob Greene
pressed strong concerns about the
effect a La Center casino would
have on the Tribe and its ability
to continue providing services and
benefits to its members.
"The opening of a new casino in
La Center will significantly reduce
the revenues of Grand Ronde's on
reservation casino," the 2006 com
ments state.
"Spirit Moun
tain Casino
is the Tribe's
primary reve
nue source and
supports essen
tial services to
Grand Ronde
members, such
as health care,
housing and
education. ...
All these pro
grams, services
and resources
will be severely
harmed if a ca
sino is built by the Cowlitz Tribe
in La Center."
Tribal member and lobbyist Jus
tin Martin of Perseverance Strat
egies Inc. has said at numerous
Tribal meetings that the La Center
casino could reduce Spirit Moun
tain Casino's revenue by 36 percent
in 2013, which would mean a 47.7
reduction in the dividend paid to
the Tribe.
The Cowlitz Tribe is requesting
that the Bureau of Indian Affairs
take into trust about 152 acres and
the Secretary of the Interior to is
sue a reservation proclamation.
The Cowlitz, recognized as a
Tribe in January 2002 and cur
rently landless, would then develop
a casino-resort complex and Tribal
government facilities on the land
in partnership with the Mohegan
Tribe in Connecticut.
The Final Environmental Impact
Statement's Executive Summary
also argued against many of the
rationales offered by area resi
dents against the Cowlitz casino
proposal. Those concerns included
adverse environmental impacts,
budgetary drains on nearby public
services and contributing to prob
lem gambling.
The Final Environmental Impact
Statement also dismissed concerns
expressed by local school districts
about an influx of construction and
casino workers' children overcrowd
ing their classrooms.
"Approximately 90 percent of
employees are anticipated to cur
rently reside in Clark and Cowlitz
counties," the statement said.
The Department of Interior will
accept comments on the final state
ment until June 30 and a record of
decision will follow at an undeter
mined date.
"We've got a long ways to go yet,"
said Stanley Speaks, Bureau of
Indian Affairs Northwest regional
director, about the Cowlitz proposal
to the Longview Daily News in a
story published on June 9.
In addition, legal challenges
might ensue. The city of Vancouver
already has filed a lawsuit chal
lenging the Cowlitz Tribe's st rategy
for dealing with the demise of its
2004 memorandum of understand
ing with Clark County. O