Opposition to the Cowlitz Tribe's proposed casino near La Center has grown to bi-state proportions, and Clark County residents should not be particular about one source of funding for that opposition. After all, the enemy of our enemy is our friend.

As Kathie Durbin reported recently in The Columbian, the Coalition for Oregon's Future recently bought a color ad in The Oregonian that carried the headline: "Stop the Columbia River Gorge and Clark County Casinos."

Well, that's certainly new. Welcome aboard the anti-Cowlitz casino bandwagon, we say. Durbin also reported that one of the coalition's funding sources is, ironically, a tribal casino. The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, owner of Spirit Mountain Casino about 60 miles from Portland, is contributing to the campaign against efforts by the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs to build an off-reservation casino in Cascade Locks. The size of that funding is not public, but the motivation appears two-fold. The Grand Ronde doesn't want the competition (especially in La Center, 20 miles north or Portland), and the tribe doesn't like off-reservation casinos. Whatever the motivation, as stated, welcome aboard.

Ed Lynch of Vancouver certainly won't worry about getting help from the Grand Ronde. He's the leader of Citizens Against Reservation Shopping (CARS). Lynch said Oregon-based opposition to the proposed Cowlitz casino is "useful. It brings this whole issue more into the public awareness. It will perhaps encourage people to listen more carefully and study the proposal to decide whether it helps or hurts them."

Lynch thinks it hurts Clark County, and we do, too. Columbian publisher Scott Campbell is a CARS member and casino opponent. The newspaper editorially opposes the proposed casino because, in terms of environmental impact and increased demands on social services, it's a net negative on local quality of life. Reservation casinos have effectively lifted tribes' economic standards elsewhere, and that's commendable. But an off-reservation tribal casino is a bad idea for Clark County.