Research is Essential to Effectively Oppose Fee to Trust for a Casino Presented by Butch Cranford

Effectively Opposing a Casino Requires Research !  I am not a professional researcher - I am a concerned Citizen  My primary focus has been issues related to Fee to Trust for Gambling since 2003  What you will hear today is based on that experience  My experience includes working with members of other Community groups, Government Officials, CERA Conference Attendees, & CERA  I learn each & every time I am in the company of this group  If a casino is proposed in your community, one of the first challenges you will face is: “Why are you opposed to a casino?”  Research is necessary if you want to effectively oppose a proposed Casino  There are valid personal, religious, & / or moral reasons for opposing a casino  Personal, religious, or moral reasons are not considered by government decision makers  Now, why are you opposed?  What do you know about the Fee to Trust process, Indian Gambling  or Federal Indian Policy?  What do you know about the proposed casino or the Tribe?  What do you know about the negative impacts a casino will have on your community? If the answers to these questions are NOTHING or VERY LITTLE MAYBE YOU NEED TO DO SOME RESEARCH

What Is Research ? Research is the careful, systematic, patient study & investigation in some field of knowledge to establish facts, or principles.  You must identify WHAT facts or principles you need to establish  Determine WHO may have the information or knowledge of the information  (City, County, State, Federal Agencies, Private sources, Universities, other communities, tribes, individuals etc)  Determine WHERE the information is located (Local, City, County, State, Federal Offices or in Remote Locations, public records, Public & Private Libraries archives of various types & of course on the Internet)  Learn HOW to access or obtain the information (Internet, copies, FOIA, Archives, public meetings, Conferences etc.)  Be prepared to explain WHY you need the information  Lastly decide HOW you will use the information & then USE it

Five (5) Research Areas / Fee to Trust for Gambling 1. The reasons to oppose a casino require research Economic Social Environmental Legal  Much research is completed & data & reports are readily available.  Professor John Kindt & other experts have published extensive reports on the serious negative impacts of casinos on local economies & the social structure of communities.  Environmental issues will require research on a project by project basis but there are issues common to casinos. (noise, traffic, crime, etc.)  A basic understanding of the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) is essential. CERA has a NEPA tool to assist in this area.  Information on legal issues, pending suits & Court decisions related to Fee to Trust for gambling & Federal Indian Policy are readily available to any researcher. 2. Indian Casino Gambling is authorized & regulated by laws, regulations, court decisions, & legal opinions requiring research related to your particular situation or issue 3. The Fee to Trust process for Indian Gambling is administered & regulated by laws, regulations, court decisions, & legal opinions requiring research to understand 4. The acquisition of land in trust is the Tribes objective & researching the history of the land / property is required 5. Knowing the history of the tribe, as we learned in Carcieri, is important.

What Next? It seems so overwhelming & complicated !  Where do you start? What do you do first? Who do you contact?  You are not the first person or community faced with this issue  Good News !! - A lot of research has been done.  There are reports, case files, reams of documents, & most importantly other people waiting for you to find & use them.  Keep in mind you cannot find or learn or understand everything overnight  Remember: Research is the careful, systematic, patient study & investigation in some field of knowledge to establish facts, or principles.  First, learn all you can about the proposed casino / project / Fee to Trust Application.  The tribe or investor will provide a number of documents that define & explain the project. (Usually a limited description)  Those documents are a good place to begin / they are often filled with errors, false, misleading & supportable statements

Reasons to Oppose a Casino:  There are many serious negative economic, social, & environmental impacts from a casino which are well researched, documented, published & available  Tribal / Investor documents are often not well researched & can be very misleading  Tribal / Investor documents present information that has little or no basis in fact  Tribal / Investor documents include data that is biased or simply manufactured to promote the casino as economically & socially beneficial to the community  Tribal / Investor documents will understate the negative environmental impacts  Data collected over the past 30 years indicates that casinos negatively impact. The communities where they are located economically, socially, & environmentally  Data from independent researchers differs greatly from research & data paid for & presented by tribes / investors attempting to build casinos Sources for Our Research  The Internet - start Googling & Binging  One of the premier casino researchers is Professor John Kindt.  Professor Kindt's books, reports, & journals are excellent reference materials.  Websites such as Focus on the Family are linked to studies & data.  Contact with local, regional, national groups such as NCIP, SCPTA, CERA.

Fee to Trust for Gambling Research:  There are two separate & independent processes which can be confusing. The Fee to Trust Process The process for approving Indian Gambling  Regulations for the Fee to Trust Process are found at 25 CFR 151 & a Fee to Trust paper by Larry J. Scrivner is helpful.  The Office of Indian Gaming's Checklist for Gaming Acquisitions Gaming Related Acquisitions & IGRA Section 20 Determinations is helpful. It is based on 25CFR151  It has been our experience that while these two documents provide an outline for the Fee to Trust process the BIA & DOI may not (do not) follow them.  The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act governs Indian Gaming (Chapter 29 of Title 25)  The NIGC Website is a good source for IGRA related information & documents.  Gambling Laws, Regulations, Tribal State Compacts, Management Contracts, Gaming Ordinances & Lands Opinions are all available on the NIGC website.  NIGC Regulations pursuant to the IGRA are found at 25 CFR Part 151  The BIA, NIGC, & DOI do not follow the law or their own regulations in the administration of the fee to trust process for gaming.

Fee to Trust for Gambling Research:(cont'd)  Sources for Our Research  CERA & other CERA members  The Internet  Title 25 & 25 CFR  Solicitor Opinions  NIGC Lands Opinions (NIGC.org)  IBIA Cases (Interior Board of Indian Appeals)  Court Cases  Inspector General Reports  Government Accounting Office Reports  Office of Indian Gaming   Department of the Interior  Memos from the Tribe's Attorneys to the Regional Director

What Our Research About the Land Revealed  The tribe's claim they owned the 12 parcels to be taken into trust were false  The tribe did not own a single one of the 12 parcels  The tribe's new claim that they had options to purchase the land were false  The tribe's investor IKON now Valley View Packing has options to purchase the 12 parcels  Almost nothing the Tribe claimed about the land was factual  This alleged “landless” Ione Band actually owns 40 acres near Ione Sources for our Research:  Amador County Recorder's Office  Amador County Assessor's Office  Documents from the Historic Ione Band  Documents from the BIA & DOI You can do this research yourself or you can also hire a title company to do a title search if you wish. If someone in your community has worked in Real Estate they may do a title search at no charge.

History of the Ione Band of Miwok  They are not an IRA Tribe & did not vote on the IRA in 1934/35  The Indians at Ione are from several different tribes  The United States has never purchased any land for the Ione Band  The United States has never held any land in trust for the Ione Band  They acquired 40 acres near Ione in 1972 via quiet title in the Amador County Superior Court  Federally Recognized in 1972 but not put on the list of recognized tribes  1972 Recognition reaffirmed in 1994 by Ada Deer & put on the list of recognized tribes  Their ownership & occupation of 40 acres was critical to the 1994 reaffirmation.  The fraudulent group proposing to build the casino is not the Ione Band of Miwok.  The Regional BIA Director & several members of her family are members of this fraudulent group created by BIA Pacific Regional Office Sources for our Research:  Documents received from the Historic Ione Band living on the 40 acres near Ione.  Documents from BIA, DOI, Office of Acknowledgement, the Solicitor & EPA  Title & Tax records & documents from the Amador County Recorder & Assessor's Office.  Documents from the EPA proving the “landless” Ione Band applied for & received grant monies to improve the 40 acres owned by the Ione Band  Documents from the Federal Court & the Amador Superior Court.  Comprehensive Study done by Researcher Professor Stephen Dow Beckham  Census Records  Documents from National & Regional Archives

Fee to Trust Application Research  No FTT Application until Nov even though the tribe referred to a Fee to Trust Application continuously from 2003 to Nov  A “draft” Fee to Trust application was obtained in May 2005 via our Congressman  The November Fee to Trust Application was based on a Sept Restored lands opinion  The restored lands opinion was challenged in Federal Court by NCIP, the County & State  The suits were dismissed / the Restored Lands Opinion was not a final decision by the DOI  The restored lands opinion was so filled with false statements it was withheld from public comment on the FTT Application with more than 20 other documents  The Regional Director did not follow the FTT procedures in the Office of Indian Gaming Checklist for Gaming Acquisitions Gaming Related Acquisitions & Section 20 Determinations  Former Deputy Assist. Sec. Indian Affairs, Aureen Martin was employed by the law firm representing the Ione Band & worked to facilitate processing of the application  The BIA employee who conducted the 2003 / 04 Scoping Sessions for the Ione Band went to work for the firm that produced the Tribes Draft Environmental Impact Report  The Ione Band's Fee to Trust Application processed by a Tribal Fee to Trust Consortium within the Pacific Regional Office whose job was to “approve” Fee to Trust Applications  This Consortium was not known to or approved by the Central Office in D.C. & in 2006 the IG reported the Consortium was a “conflict of interest”  After receiving a well documented & fact based request from NCIP in Oct to withdraw the restored lands opinion, Solicitor General David J. Bernhardt withdrew & reversed the opinion in Jan 2009 because it was WRONG  This withdrawal & reversal by Solicitor Bernhardt has halted processing of the FTT Application & effectively stopped the proposed casino

Fee to Trust Application Research cont'd Sources for our Research : United States Congressman  The Federal Register  Memos & Documents from the BIA / DOI / NIGC  Briefs & Court Documents from the Muwekma Ohlone case in the D.C. District  A FOIA through a law firm which produced more than 1500 pages of documents – More effective than our FOIA's  The Fee to Trust Application  The Restored Lands Opinion  Documents from the land research  Memo from the Tribe's Attorney to the Regional Director  The heavily redacted IG Report on the Fee to Trust Consortium obtained by POLO / POSY as part of their case in Santa Barbara.  Records from Plymouth City Hall  We are unable to obtain the Bernhardt opinion that found the restored lands opinion written by former Secretary Of Indian Affairs Carl Artman was WRONG

How to Use Your Reseach !  Inform & Educate your local community & City, County, & State Officials  Inform & Educate local & State officials, the U.S. Congress, the Inspector General, the DOI, BIA, & NIGC.  Should it become necessary use it to litigate Based on the the Research we have done: We can support every allegation & charge we have made about the unethical & illegal activities engaged in by the Tribe, the BIA, the DOI, the Solicitor, & the NIGC in the administration of the Ione Band's Fee to Trust Application for Gambling. We can prove that either former Secretary of Indian Affairs, Carl J. Artman, made false & misleading statements in the restored lands opinion OR the DOI presented briefs containing false & misleading statements to the D.C. District Court about the Ione Band in the Muwekma-Ohlone case before that court. I believe Solicitor Bernhardt withdrew the Artman Opinion because it is not defensible in Court due to its deficiencies related to the facts & the truth. I now believe Tribes, the DOI, the BIA & the NIGC will do what is necessary to approve casinos where no casinos can legally be approved including subverting & ignoring their own Regulations & the LAW. Certainly a Betrayed Trust / I wish it were otherwise !