Sonoma County would face "Las Vegas-style casino gaming" on restored Indian land if the Alexander Valley Wappo tribe wins a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, county attorneys have told a federal judge.
The Wappo case was scheduled for a conference Monday in federal court in San Jose, but Judge James Ware continued it until April 19 to give the tribe and the U.S. Interior Department more time to reach a settlement.
The Mishewal Wappo tribe filed suit last year to regain the federal recognition it lost in 1959, after Congress passed a law aimed at privatizing the state's small reservations. The suit asks the Interior Department to restore the Wappos' tribal status, benefits and historic lands.
Sonoma County filed a motion Friday seeking to intervene in the case, arguing that land shouldn't be taken out of the county's jurisdiction.
The county wants the court's approval to take part in settlement talks, Deputy County Counsel Jeffrey Brax said Monday.
"The county has significant interests at stake in terms of land-use authority, health and safety regulations and sovereign jurisdiction," he said.
In the motion, the county said the Wappos want authority to build a casino on their restored lands. Only federally-recognized tribes are allowed to operate casinos in California.
Such a project would threaten the environment and "impose massive new obligations" on county services, while removing land from its tax base, according to the county's brief.
In January, Wappo chairman Scott Gabaldon said the tribe won't decide on future plans until it regains its federal status. "We are trying to get back what was taken from us," he said.
But the county said the tribe's lawsuit, if successful, would allow casino-style gambling "with no review by the county or other affected parties."
Sonoma County should be a party to the lawsuit because the Interior Department doesn't represent its interests, county attorneys said. The federal government never told the county about the Wappos' action, they said. Instead, county officials learned about it from a report in The Press Democrat.
Judge Ware is expected to consider the county's motion on April 19.
David Glazer, an attorney for the Interior Department, and Joseph Kitto, attorney for the tribe, didn't return calls seeking comment Monday.
Between 1908 and 1913, the Bureau of Indian Affairs established a 54-acre reservation for the Wappos on West Soda Rock Lane, near the Russian River northeast of Healdsburg. Alexander Valley Rancheria and dozens of other small California reservations lost their federal status in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
The federal government distributed most of the Wappos' Alexander Valley lands to non-Indians after the tribe was disbanded, according to the lawsuit.
The government's action was unlawful because tribe members weren't properly notified and the bureau didn't keep a promise to improve roads, water and sanitation, the lawsuit alleges.
Two other "terminated" Sonoma County tribes - the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians - have regained federal recognition in recent years through congressional or court action.
The county was part of a settlement barring the Lytton Pomo from opening a casino in Sonoma County. The tribe now operates a gaming business in San Pablo.
Graton Rancheria is planning to open a casino in Rohnert Park with Station Casinos Inc.
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: