Interior Department approves Coquille casino in Medford

The federal government has approved a new casino for the Coquille Indian Tribe in Medford. That comes after over a decade of pushback from state and local officials, as well as other tribes in the region.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of the Interior put Coquille property in the Rogue Valley under federal trust, effectively expanding the tribe’s reservation. The tribe’s headquarters are in North Bend on the coast.

“Waiting almost 13 years for an environmental review process to review two acres was a ridiculous weaponization of the federal NEPA process used to punish the Coquille Tribe for taking a legal course of action to provide for its own citizens after termination,” said Brenda Meade, chair of the Coquille Indian Tribe.

The tribe can now open a Class II casino on the Medford property, which is currently Roxy’s Bar & Grill and formerly a bowling alley. That type of gaming facility allows bingo and bingo-based games where players bet against each other rather than the house. The tribe runs a Class III casino in North Bend that includes Las Vegas-style slot machines and card games.

“This finally allows the tribe to just start the project. For many, many years … this project has languished. And now we’re going to be able to provide hundreds of new jobs in our community,” said Judy Farm, CEO of Tribal One, the Coquille tribe’s economic development arm.

Tribal opponents of the project say the new casino will drain customers from their own casinos and upend an informal one-casino-per-tribe agreement in the state. This month, a judge denied a request by three regional tribes — Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, Karuk Tribe and Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation — to halt approval of the project. That complaint alleged federal authorities didn’t properly consult with the impacted tribes.

In its final days, the Obama administration also gave a favorable ruling to the proposed casino, before that decision was reversed under President Trump. Carla Keene, chair of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, said in a statement that allowing the Coquille to claim lands outside their ancestral territory harms other tribes.

“We have seen this play before, and it is not the final word. Secretary Haaland is following in the steps of the Obama [Bureau of Indian Affairs], issuing a decision that, were it legitimate, would have been approved long ago and in the light of day, not the 11th hour before leaving office,” said Keene.

A law passed by Congress in 1989 to restore Coquille lands lists Jackson County as a potential service area for the tribe.

In a statement, Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said the federal decision will lead to the “uncontrolled escalation of gambling.” He said he’ll fight the decision with all options available, including the Congressional Review Act that “empowers elected representatives to battle back against rogue federal agency decisions just like this one.”

Farm, with the Coquille’s economic branch, said the tribe is prepared for more battles.

“I guess I would say we’re not afraid of any legal maneuverings or things that might be coming our way. We’ve overcome a lot. And we’ve prevailed,” said Farm.

Justin Higginbottom is a reporter with JPR. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.

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