Citizens Against Reservation Shopping

The unfolding story of the Cowlitz Environmental Impact
Statement timeline
January 2007

Jan. 5-The Columbian: "Cowlitz casino study could be completed by end of month"

Gerald Henrikson of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Northwest Regional Office says the final EIS will be completed during the final week of January.
He says the final study has "adequately addressed" issues presented by casino foes.
He also says that the Final EIS will not be released until after the Department of the Interior (DOI) has determined whether to take land at the La Center junction into trust for the Cowlitz Tribe-indicating that the public will not have a chance to see the document before the decision has been made.

Jan. 9-The Oregonian: "Cowlitz casino report expected by month's end"

The BIA's Henrikson says again that the Final EIS will be completed by the end of the month.
Henrikson adds that he "would be really surprised" if a final decision on the document would be made by spring 2007.
Casino developer David Barnett, who all but dropped out of public sight in February 2006, says his "guess is that it is going to take until the end of the year."

Jan. 12-The Columbian: "Never mind! Feds say public will see casino study,
after all"

Reporter Jeffrey Mize writes: "Turns out much of what a local Bureau of Indian Affairs official told reporters last week might not be correct."
George Skibine, director of DOI's Office of Indian Gaming Management, says federal law (the National Environmental Policy Act) requires that the Final EIS be made available to the public before DOI decides whether to take land into trust.
Skibine says it is "highly unlikely" that the Final EIS will be done in January.
" Regional BIA's Gerald Ben says that the EIS consultant is expected to finish its work on the EIS by the end of January, but officials in Washington, D.C., could still determine it requires more work. Ben calls the discrepancy "semantics."
Heather Sibbison, a Washington, D.C., attorney for the Cowlitz Tribe, says she expects the Final EIS will not be complete for a few more months. She says a decision on the application will not come till "much later this year, if we are lucky."

Jan 12-The Columbian: "Why won't the BIA call back?"

This op-ed piece describes unsuccessful efforts of the newspaper and CARS to get information from DOI and BIA to clarify the EIS timeline issue.

Jan. 19-The Columbian: "Cowlitz Tribe doesn't expect casino decision sooner
than 2008"

Cowlitz Tribe attorney Sibbison releases via The Columbian a detailed timeline for completion of the EIS. Her timeline, dated Jan. 18, states that the EIS consultant needs another month to finish its draft of the Final EIS. She says the federal government will not make a decision about the proposed casino project until February 2008 or later.
Sibbison says, "We believe that the information contained in this document is consistent with Interior's views."