The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs officially named its proposed casino Friday -- the same week it received official word of extra requirements that will further delay plans for its off-reservation resort.

The tribe must evaluate the feasibility of a casino on an alternative site, a requirement that opponents have long demanded. The order came from James E. Cason, associate deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, which has the final say on whether the tribe will be allowed to build off-reservation.

It's the most recent turn in a battle that started in April 2005, when Gov. Ted Kulongoski approved a potential casino in Cascade Locks, in the environmentally sensitive Columbia River Gorge about 40 miles east of Portland. Tribal leaders and many Cascade Locks officials say they are desperate for economic development. The tribe's current casino, off U.S. 26 northwest of Madras, doesn't bring in enough money to sustain the tribe, leaders say.

Opponents argue that the gorge is no place for a 600,000-square-foot Las Vegas-style gambling hall. They've objected to the federal environmental review because it analyzes only Cascade Locks and tribal land in Hood River, which is also in the gorge.

"This, in and of itself, doesn't necessarily kill and drive a stake through the gorge casino proposal," said Michael Lang, conservation director of the Friends of the Columbia Gorge. "What it indicates is they have significant problems with their proposal."

But Len Bergstein, the tribe's lobbyist, downplayed the order's significance, saying they hoped it would add only weeks to the process. He said the tribe has data from a confidential analysis conducted last year.

"What's clear to the department is the Friends of the (Columbia) Gorge will sue at every chance they've got," Bergstein said.

The project is already behind schedule. A draft environmental impact statement originally slated to be released last winter won't be out until this fall -- pushing an anticipated opening from 2008 to 2009.

Despite the delay, the Warm Springs on Friday held a two-hour "unveiling of the name" ceremony. It will be called the Bridge of the Gods Columbia River Resort Casino.

For thousands of years, Native Americans have told of a prehistoric land bridge called the Great Cross Over, which once spanned the Columbia River.

Legend has it that two brothers, spirits embodied in the form of handsome mountains, got into a fight over a beautiful woman, also a mountain, and ended up crushing the bridge.

The current nuts-and-bolts version was constructed in 1926 and is operated by the Port of Cascade Locks.

Margie Tuckta, the casino's special projects director, said they solicited suggestions from tribal members and the clear directive was to name it after the river span.

"It's kind of like, if you have a little puppy. The puppy is just a puppy if you never name it; it's just a thing. It's got to have a name."