Nooksack Casino Land Swap Likely

As reported by the Bellingham Herald: "As the Nooksack Indian Tribe prepares to build a casino north of Lynden, elected officials continue to suggest moving the project out of the county's farmland and near the city of Sumas.

"To buoy the idea, they point to a deal reached with the Puyallup Tribe in 2004 to pull its Emerald Queen Casino out of land affected by a Port of Tacoma decision. But moving the Puyallup Tribe's casino out of the mudflats of the Blair Waterway to along Interstate 5 took two years of complex negotiations between layers of local, state and federal agencies.

"That kind of time is unlikely because the Nooksack tribe plans to break ground for the casino this month. And for the same process to happen in Whatcom County, officials also need similarly unique legal circumstances that simply might not exist…"

2006-06-15