Representative of Friends of the Columbia Gorge, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde and Hood River County provided testimony and answered questions before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in a packed hearing room in Washington DC.

"Friends of the Columbia Gorge was asked to testify due to the controversy of a tribal casino proposal within the National Scenic Area," said Michael Lang, Conservation Director of Friends of the Columbia Gorge. "If approved, it would be the first off-reservation casino in Oregon and only the fourth off-reservation casino in the country. The fact that it is proposed within a National Scenic Area means that there is a national interest at stake. We believe that the committee recognizes that casinos dont belong in National Scenic Areas. We applaud Sen. McCain and the rest of the committee for putting this terrible proposal under Senate scrutiny."

Lang proposed amending IGRA to prohibit casinos in our national parks and national scenic areas. He also requested closing loopholes in the McCain bill that might exempt current proposals for off-reservation casinos. Finally, he asked that public opposition to casinos coming from the targeted gambling markets, like Portland and surrounding communities, be considered in the decision-making process.

Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR), member of the committee, spoke out in favor of Gorge protection and acknowledged the overwhelming majority of Oregonians who oppose an off-reservation casino within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. In a May 2005 poll of Oregonians, 63% opposed a casino in the Gorge and 68% would vote against it if put on the ballot (Mercury Public Affairs, +/- 4.9% margin of error).

Congressman David Wu (D-OR), a vocal opponent of the Gorge casino proposal, also participated in the hearing. In particular, he questioned Warm Springs Tribal Chairman Ron Suppah on the Tribes' expenditure of $21 million on the Gorge casino proposal prior to construction when it could have built a new casino on reservation along a major highway eight years ago and saved the Tribes millions of dollars.

"When Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988, no one foresaw that Indian gaming would become as wide-spread or as far removed from existing reservations as it has," said Senator McCain in late 2005. "In 1988, Indian gaming was a $200 million dollar industry. Today, the industry earns $19 billion a year and is spread throughout the nation. The amendments reflect the need to re-evaluate what constitutes appropriate regulation of this vastly changed industry."

Founded in 1980, Friends of the Columbia Gorge is a non-profit organization which works to ensure that the beautiful and wild Columbia Gorge remains a place apart -- an unspoiled, national treasure for generations to come.

www.gorgefriends.org