New rules for siting tribal casinos published by the Bush administration this week could create additional hurdles for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, which has applied to take 25 acres into trust at Cascade Locks, Ore., for a 90,000-square-foot casino in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge.

The rules, written by the Interior Department, set new standards tribes must meet in order to acquire lands off their existing reservations for casinos. They set a higher bar for proposals to build casinos on sites distant from reservations, requiring consultation with more affected communities and more scrutiny of a tribe's justifications for an off-reservation casino.

They reflect guidance contained in a January memo from outgoing assistant Interior Secretary Carl Artman, which said the Interior Department will give more scrutiny to casino proposals the farther they are from reservations.

For example, casinos must be within "reasonable commuting distance" of reservations to assure that they provide employment for tribal members, although the new rule doesn't define what "reasonable" is.

Casino opponents including Friends of the Columbia Gorge say the Cascade Locks site doesn't meet that test. The tribe plans to run shuttle buses for workers from two points on the Central Oregon reservation that are 67 miles and 83 miles from Cascade Locks.

Under the new language, the Warm Springs tribe must consult with communities within a 25-mile radius of their proposed casino and seek their support. The previous rule required consultation with communities within a 10-mile radius.

"We're trying to figure out which communities would have to comment," said Len Bergstein, a Portland consultant to the tribe. "We don't think it will have a significant impact. Almost every jurisdiction that has commented so far has commented favorably."

In fact, the city of Stevenson, just across the Bridge of the Gods from the casino site, raised several concerns in its comments on the draft environmental impact statement. Among them: how casino traffic and the closure of a freeway ramp on Interstate 84 would affect traffic safety on the bridge and freeway; how Stevenson would be affected by the demand for affordable housing for casino workers; and whether communities on the Washington side would share in a community benefit fund paid for by the tribe.

Stevenson City Council members "were so focused on the impact that they chose not to take a position pro or con on the casino," said city administrator Mary Ann Duncan-Cole. However, council member Monica Masco submitted comments in support of the project.

Mary Repar of Stevenson, a member of the grass-roots group No Gorge Casino, expressed frustration that the Stevenson City Council failed to take a stand on the casino.

"They've abdicated their duty as elected officials to look out for the welfare of the public and our local community," she said. "This is a huge, huge proposal, and it would definitely have an impact on both sides of the river. They should discuss it, using logic and information from both sides."

Gorge communities split

A poll conducted for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, the Oregon tribe that is bankrolling the campaign to defeat the casino, found that 53 percent of Oregonians opposed a casino in Cascade Locks, while 34 percent were in favor. In Cascade Locks, Bridal Veil and Corbett at the west end of the gorge, the poll found opinion split, with 47 percent in favor of the proposal and 45 percent opposed.

The city and port of Cascade Locks have endorsed the project, which promises to bring up to 1,700 jobs to the economically lagging mid-gorge area. Also in support are commissioners from Skamania and Klickitat counties and the mayor of North Bonneville on the Washington side, and commissioners from Hood River, Wasco, Sherman and Wheeler counties and the mayor of Troutdale on the Oregon side.

Six tribes, including the Cowlitz Tribe, also have taken formal action in support of the casino. The city of Hood River, Ore., 20 miles east of Cascade Locks, has remained neutral, at least officially  in part because the Warm Springs tribes have vowed to build a casino on 40 acres they already own immediately east of Hood River if their application to acquire trust land and build a casino at a Cascade Locks industrial park is blocked.

A new poll of 300 Hood River County residents released by casino foes says support for the casino in the county has dropped, with just 22 percent expressing support and 56 percent opposed.

Hood River Mayor Linda Streich caused a stir at a March 17 Bureau of Indian Affairs hearing on the casino proposal when she said, "At no time has the city of Hood River supported the siting of a casino in any location in the Columbia River Gorge."

The mayor added, according to an account in the Hood River News, "I believe that siting a casino in any location in the Columbia River Gorge would not only be a mistake, but it would be a mistake of catastrophic consequences, affecting the livability and quality of life in our region for all time."

Warm Springs tribal leaders and Cascade Locks officials were angered by the mayors remarks. She said later that in predicting "catastrophic consequences," she was speaking for herself, not for the city council.

In April, the city council voted to reaffirm a 2001 policy that states, "If the legal and political process that sites Indian gaming casinos determines that an Indian gaming casino is permitted to be sited in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, it should be sited in Cascade Locks."

Cascade Locks city manager Bernard Seeger said it would be unfair for the federal government to change the rules while it is in the middle of reviewing the tribe's application.

"We're 80 percent of the way through the environmental impact process and now they're moving the rules?" he said. "I'm sure the Warm Springs (tribe) could say, 'What about due process?'"