Transcript Slide 1

Research is Essential
to Effectively Oppose
Fee to Trust for a
Casino
Presented by Butch Cranford
[email protected]
Effectively Opposing a Casino Requires Research !
I am not a professional researcher - I am a concerned Citizen
My primary focus has been issues related to Fee to Trust for Gambling since 2003
What you will hear today is based on that experience
My experience includes working with members of other Community groups,
Government Officials, CERA Conference Attendees, & CERA
I learn each & every time I am in the company of this group
If a casino is proposed in your community, one of the first challenges you will face is:
“Why are you opposed to a casino?”
Research is necessary if you want to effectively oppose a proposed Casino
There are valid personal, religious, & / or moral reasons for opposing a casino
Personal, religious, or moral reasons are not considered by government decision makers
Now, why are you opposed?
What do you know about the Fee to Trust process, Indian Gambling
 or Federal Indian Policy?
What do you know about the proposed casino or the Tribe?
What do you know about the negative impacts a casino will have on your community?
If the answers to these questions are NOTHING or VERY LITTLE
MAYBE YOU NEED TO DO SOME RESEARCH
What Is Research ?
Research is the careful, systematic, patient study & investigation
in some field of knowledge to establish facts, or principles.
You must identify WHAT facts or principles you need to establish
Determine WHO may have the information or knowledge of the information
(City, County, State, Federal Agencies, Private sources, Universities, other
communities, tribes, individuals etc)
Determine WHERE the information is located
(Local, City, County, State, Federal Offices or in Remote Locations, public
records, Public & Private Libraries archives of various types & of course
on the Internet)
Learn HOW to access or obtain the information
(Internet, copies, FOIA, Archives, public meetings, Conferences etc.)
Be prepared to explain WHY you need the information
Lastly decide HOW you will use the information & then USE it
Five (5) Research Areas / Fee to Trust for Gambling
1. The reasons to oppose a casino require research
Economic Social Environmental Legal
Much research is completed & data & reports are readily available.
Professor John Kindt & other experts have published extensive reports on the
serious negative impacts of casinos on local economies & the social
structure of communities.
Environmental issues will require research on a project by project basis but
there are issues common to casinos. (noise, traffic, crime, etc.)
A basic understanding of the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) is
essential. CERA has a NEPA tool to assist in this area.
Information on legal issues, pending suits & Court decisions related to Fee to
Trust for gambling & Federal Indian Policy are readily available to any
researcher.
2. Indian Casino Gambling is authorized & regulated by laws, regulations,
court decisions, & legal opinions requiring research related to your
particular situation or issue
3. The Fee to Trust process for Indian Gambling is administered & regulated
by laws, regulations, court decisions, & legal opinions
requiring research to understand
4. The acquisition of land in trust is the Tribes objective & researching the
history of the land / property is required
5. Knowing the history of the tribe, as we learned in Carcieri, is important.
What Next?
It seems so overwhelming & complicated !
Where do you start?
What do you do first?
Who do you contact?
You are not the first person or community faced with this issue
Good News !! - A lot of research has been done.
There are reports, case files, reams of documents, & most importantly other
people waiting for you to find & use them.
Keep in mind you cannot find or learn or understand everything overnight
Remember: Research is the careful, systematic, patient study & investigation
in some field of knowledge to establish facts, or principles.
First, learn all you can about the proposed casino / project / Fee to Trust
Application.
The tribe or investor will provide a number of documents that define & explain the
project. (Usually a limited description)
Those documents are a good place to begin / they are often filled with errors,
false, misleading & supportable statements
Reasons to Oppose a Casino:
There are many serious negative economic, social, & environmental impacts
from a
casino which are well researched, documented, published &
available
Tribal / Investor documents are often not well researched & can be very misleading
Tribal / Investor documents present information that has little or no basis in fact
Tribal / Investor documents include data that is biased or simply manufactured
promote the casino as economically & socially beneficial to the community
to
Tribal / Investor documents will understate the negative environmental impacts
Data collected over the past 30 years indicates that casinos negatively impact. The
communities where they are located economically, socially, & environmentally
Data from independent researchers differs greatly from research & data paid for &
presented by tribes / investors attempting to build casinos
Sources for Our Research
The Internet - start Googling & Binging
One of the premier casino researchers is Professor John Kindt.
Professor Kindt's books, reports, & journals are excellent reference materials.
Websites such as Focus on the Family are linked to studies & data.
Contact with local, regional, national groups such as NCIP, SCPTA, CERA.
Fee to Trust for Gambling Research:
There are two separate & independent processes which can be confusing.
The Fee to Trust Process
The process for approving Indian Gambling
Regulations for the Fee to Trust Process are found at 25 CFR 151 & a Fee to Trust paper by
Larry J. Scrivner is helpful.
The Office of Indian Gaming's Checklist for Gaming Acquisitions Gaming Related
Acquisitions & IGRA Section 20 Determinations is helpful. It is based on 25CFR151
It has been our experience that while these two documents provide an outline for
the Fee to Trust process the BIA & DOI may not (do not) follow them.
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act governs Indian Gaming (Chapter 29 of Title 25)
The NIGC Website is a good source for IGRA related information & documents.
Gambling Laws, Regulations, Tribal State Compacts, Management Contracts, Gaming
Ordinances & Lands Opinions are all available on the NIGC
website.
NIGC Regulations pursuant to the IGRA are found at 25 CFR Part 151
The BIA, NIGC, & DOI do not follow the law or their own regulations in the
administration of the fee to trust process for gaming.
Fee to Trust for Gambling Research:(cont'd)
Sources for Our Research
CERA & other CERA members
The Internet
Title 25 & 25 CFR
Solicitor Opinions
NIGC Lands Opinions (NIGC.org)
IBIA Cases (Interior Board of Indian Appeals)
Court Cases
Inspector General Reports
Government Accounting Office Reports
Office of Indian Gaming

Department of the Interior
Memos from the Tribe's Attorneys to the Regional Director
What Our Research About the Land Revealed
The tribe's claim they owned the 12 parcels to be taken into trust were false
The tribe did not own a single one of the 12 parcels
The tribe's new claim that they had options to purchase the land were false
The tribe's investor IKON now Valley View Packing has options to purchase the
12 parcels
Almost nothing the Tribe claimed about the land was factual
This alleged “landless” Ione Band actually owns 40 acres near Ione
Sources for our Research:
Amador County Recorder's Office
Amador County Assessor's Office
Documents from the Historic Ione Band
Documents from the BIA & DOI
You can do this research yourself or you can also hire a title company to do
a title search if you wish. If someone in your community has worked in Real
Estate they may do a title search at no charge.
History of the Ione Band of Miwok
They are not an IRA Tribe & did not vote on the IRA in 1934/35
The Indians at Ione are from several different tribes
The United States has never purchased any land for the Ione Band
The United States has never held any land in trust for the Ione Band
They acquired 40 acres near Ione in 1972 via quiet title in the Amador County Superior Court
Federally Recognized in 1972 but not put on the list of recognized tribes
1972 Recognition reaffirmed in 1994 by Ada Deer & put on the list of recognized tribes
Their ownership & occupation of 40 acres was critical to the 1994 reaffirmation.
The fraudulent group proposing to build the casino is not the Ione Band of Miwok.
The Regional BIA Director & several members of her family are members of this
fraudulent group created by BIA Pacific Regional Office
Sources for our Research:
Documents received from the Historic Ione Band living on the 40 acres near Ione.
Documents from BIA, DOI, Office of Acknowledgement, the Solicitor & EPA
Title & Tax records & documents from the Amador County Recorder & Assessor's Office.
Documents from the EPA proving the “landless” Ione Band applied for & received
grant monies to improve the 40 acres owned by the Ione Band
Documents from the Federal Court & the Amador Superior Court.
Comprehensive Study done by Researcher Professor Stephen Dow Beckham
Census Records
Documents from National & Regional Archives
Fee to Trust Application Research
No FTT Application until Nov. 2006 even though the tribe referred to a Fee to Trust
Application continuously from 2003 to Nov. 2006
A “draft” Fee to Trust application was obtained in May 2005 via our Congressman
The November Fee to Trust Application was based on a Sept. 2006 Restored lands opinion
The restored lands opinion was challenged in Federal Court by NCIP, the County & State
The suits were dismissed / the Restored Lands Opinion was not a final decision by the DOI
The restored lands opinion was so filled with false statements it was withheld from
public comment on the FTT Application with more than 20 other documents
The Regional Director did not follow the FTT procedures in the Office of Indian Gaming
Checklist for Gaming Acquisitions Gaming Related Acquisitions & Section 20
Determinations
Former Deputy Assist. Sec. Indian Affairs, Aureen Martin was employed by the law
firm representing the Ione Band & worked to facilitate processing of the
application
The BIA employee who conducted the 2003 / 04 Scoping Sessions for the Ione Band went
to work for the firm that produced the Tribes Draft Environmental Impact Report
The Ione Band's Fee to Trust Application processed by a Tribal Fee to Trust
Consortium within the Pacific Regional Office whose job was to “approve”
Fee to Trust Applications
This Consortium was not known to or approved by the Central Office in D.C. & in 2006 the
IG reported the Consortium was a “conflict of interest”
After receiving a well documented & fact based request from NCIP in Oct. 2008 to
withdraw the restored lands opinion, Solicitor General David J. Bernhardt
withdrew & reversed the opinion in Jan 2009 because it was WRONG
This withdrawal & reversal by Solicitor Bernhardt has halted processing of the FTT
Application & effectively stopped the proposed casino
Fee to Trust Application Research cont'd
Sources for our Research:
United States Congressman
The Federal Register
Memos & Documents from the BIA / DOI / NIGC
Briefs & Court Documents from the Muwekma Ohlone case in the D.C. District
A FOIA through a law firm which produced more than 1500 pages of documents –
More effective than our FOIA's
The Fee to Trust Application
The Restored Lands Opinion
Documents from the land research
Memo from the Tribe's Attorney to the Regional Director
The heavily redacted IG Report on the Fee to Trust Consortium obtained by
POSY as part of their case in Santa Barbara.
POLO /
Records from Plymouth City Hall
We are unable to obtain the Bernhardt opinion that found the restored lands opinion
written by former Secretary Of Indian Affairs Carl Artman was WRONG
How to Use Your Reseach !
Inform & Educate your local community & City, County, & State Officials
Inform & Educate local & State officials, the U.S. Congress, the Inspector General,
the DOI, BIA, & NIGC.
Should it become necessary use it to litigate
Based on the the Research we have done:
We can support every allegation & charge we have made about the unethical
&
illegal activities engaged in by the Tribe, the BIA, the DOI, the Solicitor, & the NIGC in
the administration of the Ione Band's Fee to Trust Application for Gambling.
We can prove that either former Secretary of Indian Affairs, Carl J. Artman, made false
& misleading statements in the restored lands opinion OR
the DOI presented briefs containing false & misleading statements to the D.C. District
Court about the Ione Band in the Muwekma-Ohlone case before that court.
I believe Solicitor Bernhardt withdrew the Artman Opinion because it is not defensible
in Court due to its deficiencies related to the facts & the truth.
I now believe Tribes, the DOI, the BIA & the NIGC will do what is necessary to
approve casinos where no casinos can legally be approved including subverting
& ignoring their own Regulations & the LAW.
Certainly a Betrayed Trust / I wish it were otherwise !