{"id":105508,"date":"2019-05-21T15:36:36","date_gmt":"2019-05-21T22:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=105508"},"modified":"2019-05-21T16:01:55","modified_gmt":"2019-05-21T23:01:55","slug":"timbisha-shoshone-tribe-sues-doi-over-stalled-casino-land-application","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/timbisha-shoshone-tribe-sues-doi-over-stalled-casino-land-application\/","title":{"rendered":"Death Valley Tribe Sues DOI Over Stalled Casino Land Application, Alleging \u2018Undue Political Influence\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe of Death Valley is suing the US Department of the Interior for its failure to sign off on an application take to land into trust for the tribe in Ridgecrest, California.<\/p>\n

\"Timbisha
The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe of Death Valley believes the DOI has deliberately squashed its application to have land taken into trust for undue political reasons, thus prejudicing the tribe and the \u201chealth, welfare, and safety of its people.\u201d (Image: Noozhawk.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Timbisha want to build a casino on the Ridgecrest plot but accuses Associate Deputy Secretary of the Department of Interior James Cason of impeding the application for unspecified political reasons in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit seeks an investigation by the DOI Inspector General into \u201cundue political influence and the failures of the Department to abide by its own policies,\u201d and asks for declaratory and injunctive relief to transfer the land into trust.<\/p>\n

The tribe\u2019s members are descendants of the Shoshone people who have lived in what is now known as the Death Valley National Park and neighboring areas of California and Nevada for thousands of years. The Timbisha were federally recognized in 1983 but landless until 2000, when the Shoshone Homeland Act transferred five federal parcels of land into trust for the benefit of the tribe.<\/p>\n

The Homeland Act also allowed the DOI to acquire an alternative plot for the tribe, provided it is mutually agreed upon by the tribe and department.<\/p>\n

Mandatory Duty <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Since the land taken into trust in 2000 was \u201cunsuitable for residential and economic development consistent with the basic needs and rights,\u201d according to the lawsuit, the tribe signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the DOI in January 2017, setting into motion the process to transfer the land.<\/p>\n

Since then, not a peep has been heard from the DOI, despite the department\u2019s mandatory duty to transfer the land under the Homeland Act, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

In October 2018 tribal representatives contacted Cason\u2019s office to inquire about the progress of the application and were told that Cason did not plan to approve the application until he had heard from US Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California), whose 23rd Congressional District includes Ridgecrest.<\/p>\n

\n

The congressman\u2019s approval was not a requirement of the legal process, the lawsuit asserts. And despite numerous attempts by the tribe to contact Cason and McCarthy the tribe has heard nothing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe stand alone in our complaint and filing but we believe that the complaints and lawsuits filed by other tribes [are] indicative of the systematic problems within the Office of the Secretary of the Interior,\u201d said Tribal Chairwoman White Dove Kennedy in a press release.<\/p>\n

City Terminates Land Sale<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Kennedy is likely referring to accusations that the DOI illegally blocked a Connecticut casino application from the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes, allegedly because the department bowed to political pressure from regional competitor MGM Resorts.<\/p>\n

In February, a federal judge ruled the two tribes had the right to sue the department. Having since received approval, the tribes have dropped the suit<\/a>, but former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke<\/a> remains under investigation by the DOJ over whether he lied to the DOI\u2019s own internal investigators about the tribes\u2019 application, a potential felony.<\/p>\n

Amid the delay to the Timbisha application, in December 2018 Ridgecrest City Council voted to terminate the land sale, but the tribe asserts that a municipal services agreement (MSA) signed by both parties is still binding and means it retains the legal right to purchase the plot.<\/p>\n

Local media has reported the proposed casino has been a divisive issue among Ridgecrest residents. While some welcome the economic diversification it might bring, a vocal religious contingent believes it will generate vice and crime in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe of Death Valley is suing the US Department of the Interior for its failure to sign off on an application take to land into trust for the tribe in Ridgecrest, California. The Timbisha want to build a casino on the Ridgecrest plot but accuses Associate Deputy Secretary of the Department of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":105511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,60,61,18456],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTimbisha Shoshone Tribe Sues DOI Over Stalled Casino Land Application<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Timbisha Shoshone Tribe of Death Valley sues DOI over land application, alleging violation of the Administrative Procedure Act for undue political reasons.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Timbisha Shoshone Tribe Sues DOI Over Stalled Casino Land Application\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Timbisha Shoshone Tribe of Death Valley sues DOI over land application, alleging violation of the Administrative Procedure Act for undue political reasons.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/timbisha-shoshone-tribe-sues-doi-over-stalled-casino-land-application\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-21T22:36:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-05-21T23:01:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/death-valley.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta 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