Congressional act could create Indian lands next to Windsor

The shifting sands of the Washington, D.C., political pit can sometimes mean two people can propose the same bill in Congress, but only the one with party dominance has a chance of success.

Legislation to create a reservation for the Lytton Rancheria next to Windsor is once again being proposed in Congress. But the Sonoma County tribe of Lytton Pomos is relying on a Central Valley Republican to advance its effort to create a homeland instead of Jared Huffman, the North Coast Democratic legislator who carried virtually the same bill two years ago.

In fact, Huffman, D-San Rafael, is now distancing himself from it, saying he doesn’t want to doom it by having his name attached.

Instead, the Lytton Rancheria Homeland Act of 2017 is solely sponsored by Jeff Denham, R-Turlock, a member of House Natural Resources Committee, who sits on a subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs overseeing matters regarding Native Americans and 566 federally recognized tribes.

But Denham and his political action committee also received more than $68,000 from the Lytton tribe and its San Pablo Casino over the past year, leading rancheria opponents to claim his interest is solely mercenary.

The Lytton Rancheria Homeland Act would create reservation lands totaling more than 500 acres adjoining and southwest of Windsor, including some noncontiguous parcels, all owned by the Lytton Pomos.

It includes a 124-acre tract for a tribal housing project along Windsor River Road that is the subject of a separate, long-pending application with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to create a reservation.

But if Congress acts to create the Indian lands instead, it would give the tribe a much bigger chunk of territory and more development opportunities no longer subject to local land use zoning and guidelines.

Lytton attorney and spokesman Larry Stidham said Denham “is familiar with Indian issues throughout the state and this is an issue he has taken an interest in and feels it appropriate for the tribe to take the land into trust.”

With Republican sponsorship, it could stand a better chance than Huffman’s identical bill that died at the end of last year before it could be voted on.

“Obviously the partisan nature of the House was the singular reason it didn’t move out at the end of the session,” Huffman said of his Lytton Rancheria Homelands Act of 2015.

“At any given moment, if you are a Democrat in a high-profile battle with the House majority, they’re likely to punish you by freezing your bills. That’s what happened to me,” Huffman said.

Huffman was going to extra lengths this week to separate himself from the bill. Huffman and the tribe asked Denham to carry it, Denham’s office said.

“Not true,” Huffman replied, adding he sent a letter Wednesday to the chairman of the Lytton tribe and Denham clarifying his position.

Huffman said he doesn’t object to Denham carrying the legislation for the tribe and told him so, “but it’s not something I requested, or initiated.”

Huffman said there is “a level of partisan pettiness” in the nation’s capital that could sink a bill with him as the sponsor, for reasons unrelated to the substance of the legislation. In a letter to the Lytton tribe, Huffman said that is essentially what happened when Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield last year chose to prevent his bill from coming to a vote by the full House.

Last time around, Denham was a co-sponsor of Huffman’s Lytton Homelands Act along with Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena.

But Denham’s sole sponsorship of a bill to create an Indian reservation for a tribe far outside his Central Valley Congressional district is causing Lytton project opponents to question his motives.

“Why is a congressman 150 miles away from Windsor putting in land-use legislation that doesn’t affect his district?” said Eric Wee, a founder of Citizens for Windsor, which adamantly opposes the Lytton project. “The simple answer is money. He is doing whatever he can to get money from Indian tribes.”

Asked to comment on the allegation, a spokesman for Denham responded with a brief statement that did not address the contributions he has gotten from the tribe:

“Rep. Denham has a long history of supporting California tribes seeking to improve their self-determination and bettering their homelands,” said Jessica McFaul, Denham’s communication director.

The Lyttons, like many other tribes that own casinos, have a record of making numerous contributions to politicians and paying for lobbyists. The Lytton tribe spent more than $1.1 million on lobbying in Washington, D.C., in the past two years, according to the website OpenSecrets.org, a nonpartisan, independent research group that tracks money in U.S. politics.

“Indian tribes are very influential in Congress. No doubt about it, they are major campaign contributors on a national scale,” said Cheryl Schmit, director of Stand up For California, a gambling watchdog group.

Federal records show that in the past year, Denham’s Jeff PAC received separate contributions of $5,000 apiece from 10 Indian tribes, including the Lyttons.

One of those $5,000 contributions also came from the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, which spent more than $850,000 on lobbying and political contributions in Washington over the past two years.

Denham was the sponsor of a bill to add a 1,400-acre parcel to the Chumash’s existing reservation. He also had his motives questioned by Santa Barbara County residents opposed to the tribe’s plan.

The legislation didn’t succeed, but the Chumash still prevailed. Last month, the Bureau of Indian Affairs in an administrative decision approved the addition to their reservation.

Something similar could occur in Sonoma County if the BIA approves a Lytton reservation.

For years, the county and Windsor officials opposed the tribe’s plans to create a 124-acre reservation for a tribal housing project, saying it was inappropriate for the rural, low-density zoning and would lead to the loss of more than 1,500 trees and other habitat.

But under the assumption the tribe would eventually prevail in getting a reservation approved, county officials two years ago signed an agreement with the Lyttons to not oppose their project and even allow for the tribe to build a resort-hotel, large winery and up to 360 homes on additional land.

In exchange, the tribe agreed to millions of dollars in payments and an assurance it would not build a casino anywhere in the county for 22 years.

Shortly afterward, Huffman said he introduced his legislation to further guarantee the tribe would never build a casino, specifically north of Highway 12, all the way to the Mendocino County line.

You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 707-521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@clarkmas.