Biden DOI Adds Koi Nation Casino to List of Last-Minute Off-Reservation Approvals

^{Graton Rancheria chairman Greg Sarris fought hard, but unsuccessfully, to keep the Biden administration from injecting competing tribal casinos into non-tribal lands. (Image: Kent Porter via greg-farris.com)}

The Department of the Interior (DOI) approved a Koi Nation proposal to build a major casino near Windsor, California, continuing a trend of late off-reservation casino approvals during the final days of the Biden Administration.

The approval comes despite opposition from local residents, a variety of government officials, and other tribes in the area, mirroring similar DOI approvals made in recent days in Oregon and California.

Injunction Request Fails to Prevent Casino Approval 

The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria had attempted to slow down the approval process by requesting an injunction to delay any formal decision on the Windsor casino. However, US District Judge Rita F. Lin of the Northern District of California ruled denied that request on Friday, January 10, opening the door for the Biden Administration to officially approve the casino on Monday, January 13.

“It’s a travesty,” Graton Rancheria chairman Greg Sarris said, via The Press Democrat. “And a political move that was very carefully timed by the Koi and the Department of Interior, to do this during an election year and to railroad this through at the 11^th hour. This is shamefully handed down just before the current team at Interior turns out the lights.”

Currently, there are only two other tribal casinos in Sonoma County, where the planned Koi Nation casino would be built. The Graton Rancheria own Graton Resort and Casino near Rohnert Park, just 15 miles to the south of where the Koi plan to build near Windsor. The Dry Creek Rancheria operate River Rock, located near Geyserville.

Naturally, the Koi Nation – a tribe with fewer than 100 members, and one that does not currently own or operate a casino – had a much more favorable view of the DOI decision.

“Today represents a historic moment of opportunity and justice for the Koi Nation,” Koi Nation Tribal Council Chairman Darin Beltran said in a statement. “The Koi Nation has been afforded for the first time in over a century a real opportunity to build a sovereign land base that will provide economic development, self-governance, and a bright future for current and future generations of our tribal citizens.”

Ruling Could Open Door for Casino Expansion, Tribal Leaders Warn

But where the Koi Nation sees an opportunity for prosperity, Sarris sees a precedent that could upend California’s gaming industry.

“They will all do the same thing,” Sarris said. “And they will be able to make a case that they can’t have economic development for themselves, so they have to go elsewhere. I don’t think this is what California voters wanted when they voted for casinos.”

The Koi Nation casino would feature both a 530,000-square-foot gaming floor and a 400-room hotel. Locals have previously shared concerns that such a development could bring traffic, noise, and crime to their community, and have also noted that it could impact wildfire evacuations, a growing concern in the region. For the moment, however, local officials seem open to trying to make the project work.

“During the [Bureau of Indian Affairs] process, we’ve made many substantive comments about traffic, about water impacts,” Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins told The Press Democrat. “It’s important to sit down and discuss with the Koi Nation how it will be mitigated.”

Still, the overwhelming response from California officials has been negative throughout the approval process. California Gov. Gavin Newsom opposed both the Windsor project and a Vallejo tribal casino proposed by the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians, which was recently approved by the Biden Administration. Senator Alex Padilla (D-California) and Representatives Jared Huffman (D-California) and Mike Thompson (D-California) also opposed the Windsor casino, as did the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.

Tribal Casino Exceptions

The Koi Nation casino – as with most of the other controversial approvals in recent days – was approved via the “restored lands exception,” a federal government ruling that allows tribes that illegally lost federal recognition to potentially open gaming venues outside their historic lands. 

However, such approvals have outraged other tribes for a variety of reasons, ranging from the impact on their own homelands to more practical concerns over competition in the gaming industry.

“These decisions are an affront to the sovereignty of impacted tribes and a betrayal of the federal government’s trust responsibilities,” Lytton Rancheria Chair Andy Mejia said in a statement. “The Department of the Interior has fast-tracked approvals for projects that not only disregard historical and cultural ties but also ignore the devastating impacts on local communities and tribal nations whose ancestral lands are at stake.”