The Klamath Tribes, like more than 20 other tribes nationwide racing to get a jump on proposed federal rules, has filed an application to build a casino near a golf course south of Wilsonville.

The Klamath plan joins two other proposed tribal casinos attempting to tap the lucrative Portland-area gambling market. Two Lake Oswego businessmen also want to open a nontribal casino at the former Multnomah Greyhound Park in Wood Village.

The Klamath join five other tribes in Oregon and Washington state that met an April 15 application deadline set by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. The other Oregon tribe is the Burns Paiute Tribe, based in Burns, which is seeking an off-reservation casino in Ontario -- on the Idaho border, about 60 miles from Boise.

The flurry of applications to regional Bureau of Indian Affairs offices comes at a controversial time for off-reservation casinos. Opponents accuse tribes of shopping for land near densely populated metropolitan areas for financial gain only and without the necessary historical basis to claim tribal land. McCain and Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., have each proposed legislation that essentially would close the door on off-reservation casinos throughout the country.

The bills are designed to rework the national Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, the legislation that led to the opening of about 400 tribal casinos nationwide, a $19 billion industry. The latest flurry of applications undoubtedly will heat up the issue further as federal officials consider a total of 53 applications for off-reservation casinos.

Klamath officials say that it wasn't their plan to make an application at this time, that they just wanted to preserve their options in the swirl of House and Senate legislation.

"If we hadn't put in an application, the door could have been closed," Rod Clarke, president of the Klamath Tribal Development Corp. in Chiloquin, said Thursday.

Neither Clarke nor Allen Foreman, the Klamath tribal chairman, would identify the proposed site.

Rough proposal

However, Clackamas County Commissioners Larry Sowa and Martha Schrader said Thursday that they have seen a rough proposal for a casino in the area of Langdon Farms Golf Club, which adjoins Interstate 5 just south of Wilsonville.

Chris Maletis, who co-owns Langdon Farms with his brother, Tom, said the casino site does not include the golf course or other property the brothers own in the area. He said tribal representatives have been searching for a casino site in the I-5 corridor for years. He declined to disclose the exact location.

"They view this area as a good area because it is on I-5 and there is an interchange," Maletis said. "They view a golf course as an amenity to a casino."

Clarke and Foreman said the tribe's plans are undefined.

The Klamath tribe, which has no reservation, already operates the Kla-Mo-Ya Casino, 22 miles north of Klamath Falls.

Portland-area sites

The possibility of the casino -- whatever stage of development -- comes at a time that two other tribes have proposed casinos in the Portland area. Spokesmen for those welcomed the Klamath.

"If another tribe wants to pursue a casino, that's their business on how they attain self-sufficiency," said Ron Suppah, chairman of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. That tribe, which operates the Kah-Nee-Tah Resort and Casino on its reservation, has proposed a $389 million casino and resort in Cascade Locks in the Columbia River Gorge.

In Clark County, the Cowlitz Indian Tribe has proposed building a $510 million casino and resort at the La Center-Interstate 5 junction, 16 miles north of the Interstate Bridge.

"We don't follow what goes on in Oregon," David Barnett, a tribal member, said Wednesday. Barnett, a land developer, has teamed with the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority of Connecticut for the proposed casino.

Not surprised

Tribal gaming experts said they were not surprised at the numerous applications filed by April 15.

McCain set the deadline at a March 29 meeting of the Indian Affairs Committee, according to two people at the hearing. A previous deadline had been March 29, but, at the urging of other committee members, he pushed it to April 15 -- with a caveat.

"He said if there was a flood of applications, he may change his mind," said Suppah, the Warm Springs chairman who testified at the hearing.

Tribes then were on alert: If they had been even thinking about an off-reservation casino, now was the time to act.

"This was hurry up and get them in and make sure we have an application in," said Gerald Ben, deputy regional director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Portland.

Sarah Hunsberger of The Oregonian staff contributed to this report. Allan Brettman: 360-896-5746 or 503-294-5900; allanbrettman@news.oregonian.com