Tribe files letter of intent for Ontario casino

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“There are no guarantees they are going to do it,” she said.

The application has to be approved by the United States Department of Interior.

“This is not a done deal,” she said.

According to a spokesman for the Oregon governor's office the Burns Paiute Tribe had revealed it plans to file an application for an off-reservation casino at Ontario, but so far no formal paperwork has been filed with the state.

However, Lonn Hoklin, communications director for the governor, said any conservation with the governor's office would come later in the process. Hoklin confirmed that the tribe had said it planned to file an application with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Attempts to verify the filing with the BIA have been unsuccessful.

Oregon State Rep. Tom Butler, R-Ontario, who is a member of the Legislative Commission on Indian Services, said the significance of the April 13 date is that a letter of intent or application had to be in by an April 15 congressionally-imposed deadline.

The deadline was a key piece in legislation ratified March 29 by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee that would eliminate off-reservation gambling for tribes with their own reservation land. The bill, however, states that any applications filed before April 15 - two weeks after the committee meeting - would be grandfathered into current law.

Also, by issuing a letter of intent, the tribe does not have to own the land, he said. He said putting the land in trust with the government would give it reservation status.

Butler also said the tribe would probably have to give up its casino at Burns to get the casino in Ontario approved by the governor, which is required by law.

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski is opposed to off-reservation casinos and follows the state's one casino per tribe policy, Butler said.

While his preference is that tribes pursue economic development through other means than casinos, Butler acknowledged some tribes are successfully using the casino income to get into other business ventures and build their economy.

Malheur County Commissioner Louis Wettstein said recently the County Court had a discussion with the Burns Paiute Tribe two or three years ago.

“It just died out,” he said.

At first the discussion was about construction of a warehouse, Wettstein said.

“I was excited by the warehouse,” Wettstein said. “I'm not excited about the casino.”

Former Malheur County Judge Russ Hursh, however, said in a recent article in the Argus Observer that county leaders were aware the tribe was also planning to build a casino in Ontario.

“We've known about that (a gaming facility) for three years,” Hursh said.

Those plans, Hursh said, include more than just a casino.

Hursh said the tribe also wanted to create a distribution center locally for its art and jewelry.

- The Associated Press also contributed this report.