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Washington, DC— Today Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton disapproved the Tribal-State Compact signed April 6, 2005 by Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation that would have laid the grounds to develop an Indian gambling casino in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.
In response to Secretary Norton's announcement, Congressman Wu released the statement below:
"We welcome the Secretary of the Interior's decision to deny the Compact for the construction of an Indian gambling casino in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, the crown jewel of Oregon's natural heritage.
"From the beginning, the application for this casino has been highly irregular. No off-reservation Indian gaming casino has ever been approved in Oregon history, and none ever should be.
"The disapproval of this Compact will give Oregonians a chance to reconsider the kind of state we wish to be. Currently, we are in a league with states such as Nevada and Louisiana for dependency upon gambling revenues to keep our state afloat.
"None of these states has found gambling to be a solution to their problems without creating even larger problems. We can save our natural heritage as well as preserve our values. We keep faith with our forbearers, Indian or white, by protecting the Columbia River Gorge.
"We betray our natural heritage, our communities, and our very souls by selling ourselves upon the alter of Indian casino gambling. This is not the end of the fight to save the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. This is only the beginning of the fight for the heart and soul of Oregon."
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A casino of this magnitude will bring over three million non-Gorge related visitors per year, a million cars per year to the area and exacerbate traffic, pollution, and risks to endangered species in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.
State and Federal agencies have already determined that air quality in the Columbia River Gorge is significantly degraded and that visibility is impaired 95% of the time within this National Scenic Area. Also, according to the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station, this area suffers acid rain and fog as severe as what falls in industrial cities such as Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and New York.
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