WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a letter to President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team, Congressman David Wu asserted yesterday that protecting the Columbia River Gorge is a crucial environmental concern for the next administration.

“It is imperative that the Department of the Interior’s transition team recognizes the importance of the currently pending final environmental impact statement for the transfer of land within the Gorge for the purpose of a gambling casino,” said Congressman Wu.  “We Oregonians prize our natural treasures, and I am counting on the Obama administration to help preserve our distinctive heritage for generations to come.”

Friends of the Columbia Gorge and other local organizations also oppose the siting of a gambling casino within the Columbia River Gorge.

"The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area is a natural scenic treasure that must be protected for our children and future generations and it is our sincere hope that President-elect Obama protects this treasure from the threat of large-scale casino development," said Michael Lang, conservation director of Friends of the Columbia Gorge.  "There are many places in Oregon that would be more appropriate alternatives for this development; it need not be sited within this natural treasure," said Lang.


Congressman Wu’s letter is below.

December 3, 2008

John Leshy
Department of the Interior Review Team Lead
Presidential Transition Team
451 6th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20270

Dear Mr. Leshy,

As you work with the current administration in order to ensure a productive transition, I would like to inform you of an issue that is of vast importance to me, my constituents, and the future of Oregon's natural heritage: a proposal to cite an off-reservation gambling casino inside the boundaries of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

Currently pending before the Department of Interior is the final environmental impact statement for the approval of an application of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs for the fee-to-trust transfer of approximately 25 acres of land within the city of Cascade Locks, Oregon. After the transfer, the land would be used for the development of gambling casino and related entertainment facilities; these building would total more than 600,000 square feet and would not include the proposed 1 million square feet of parking required for the anticipated 1.3 million cars each year to the facilities.

For over a decade, Oregonians have been resisting this proposal. This idea has been met by Oregonians with a fair amount of objection when they realize the damage to their natural heritage that will occur with the approval of a destination such as this. It is my hope that you and the incoming Obama administration understand this issue to be my primary environmental concern and a vital issue for me and my constituents who rely on the Gorge for its beauty and natural splendor.

The federal government recognized the rare beauty of the Gorge in 1986 by designating it as our country's first National Scenic Area. The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act of 1986 acknowledged the need to safeguard the natural beauty of the Gorge and "to protect and provide for the enhancement of the scenic, cultural, recreational, and natural resources of the Columbia River Gorge” (P.L. 99-663, Sec.3(1)). The Act also sought to protect and support economic development in the communities of the Gorge, and even promoted growth in existing urban areas.  However, the immense amount of development that would be spurred by the proposed casino and related infrastructure would lead to growth inconsistent with the fundamental mandate to protect the Gorge, per section 3(1). In addition, the casino itself would attract an estimated three million more people per year to the Gorge for non-Gorge-related uses. When Congress named the Gorge the first National Scenic Area, it certainly did not intend for it to become a parking lot for gamblers.

The construction and placement of the gambling casino, hotel facility, accompanying parking lot, and new highway interchange needed to access the new development would require the sacrifice of the Gorge's natural and historic environment.  The gambling casino and hotel facility alone would cover nearly 600,000 square feet.  It would require one million square feet of parking (approximately 22.77 acres) to accommodate an estimated 1.3 million cars each year.  In addition, the influx of traffic on Interstate 84 would necessitate the rebuilding of a highway interchange at Forest Lane and further damage the environment.  This would exacerbate the Gorge's existing air quality problems as well as acid rain and fog that are as severe as conditions in Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and New York.

A 2005 study by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service research staff examined the atmospheric deposition effects on species in the Columbia River Gorge. The study found that there was "deposition and fog/precipitation acidity in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area at levels known to adversely affect natural resources and likely to affect cultural resources to some degree."  In addition, the study found that due to intense cycles of air movement through the Gorge, which alternate between high winds and stagnation, plants and animals are repeatedly exposed to high levels of nitrogen and sulfur. The study authors refer to the Gorge as an "exhaust pipe"  for air pollutants generated in the Columbia Basin.

The Gorge is also home to a wide array of native wildlife and plant species.  There are more than 800 species of wildflowers (16 of which exist nowhere else on Earth); six endangered and threatened animal species, including the listed bald eagle; and more than 40 other sensitive species that are already diminishing rapidly. Further air pollution, particularly at the levels anticipated from the large influx of automobiles, would adversely affect the flora and fauna of the Gorge.

In addition, threatened native salmon runs stand to lose more ground from the approval of this facility due to the adverse effects of storm water runoff pollutants. The Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) July 19, 2006 biological assessment stated that the proposed gambling casino would be “not likely to adversely affect” nine species of fish.  However, in a letter dated August 11, 2006, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) disagreed, stating that the proposed gambling casino and its required facilities have the potential to adversely affect the already embattled and protected species of salmonids in the area. NMFS found extensive errors in BIA’s biological assessment, leading NFMS to disagree with the BIA's determination that the following fish would be unharmed: lower Columbia River steelhead, lower Columbia River coho salmon, upper Columbia River spring-run Chinook salmon, Snake River spring/summer-run Chinook salmon, Snake River sockeye salmon, Columbia River chum salmon, Snake River Basin steelhead, and middle Columbia River steelhead.

I concur with NMFS that BIA oversimplified the effect of storm water runoff pollutants.  NMFS stated that storm water is a "complex mixture of many contaminants originating on roads [and] landscaping," and that this mixture of pollutants makes for a large number of toxological interactions that are difficult to predict. In addition, NMFS states that "there is ample evidence that the mixture of toxins in storm water can degrade salmon habitat enough to substantially reduce its ability to support spawning, feeding, and growth to maturity." Further, the BIA failed to discuss the "loading" of smaller creeks with pollutants, in which smaller bodies of water retain more of the polluting material because they do not have the quick dispersal of the faster-moving Columbia River. With these facts in mind, NMFS concluded that it is "reasonably certain" the storm water pollution caused by the proposed gambling casino and its required facilities "will cause adverse effects" to the salmonids that inhabit Herman Creek and the Columbia River.

I also agree with NMFS that the process by which BIA carried out the biological assessment raises further concerns. BIA failed to consider the degradation of the riparian buffer due to the large number of trees and shrubs that would be removed along Herman Creek, should the gambling casino be built. BIA also did not address the disruption to essential Herman Creek spawning and rearing habitat for listed Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, and steelhead that would result from the construction of a highway interchange bridge relying on pylons in the creek; new abutments along the creek; and the 15 feet of flood plain that would have to be filled.

Traffic safety problems and increases congestion are major consequences of the proposed casino as well.  I-84 is already problematic for travelers, truckers, and residents of the Gorge. The combination of heavy commercial truck traffic traveling to and from the Portland metropolitan area and sightseeing motorists already causes congestion and accidents along one of the major east-west thoroughfares in the Pacific Northwest. An additional 1.3 million vehicles on their way to and from the casino would further reduce safety, as well as increase congestion and corresponding pollution.  

In addition, major exceptions to Oregon's traffic standards would have to be made for the proposed gambling facility because the proposed new I-84 access ramp would not meet Oregon Interchange Spacing Standards. On August 30, 2007, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) sent a letter to Gerald Hendrikson of the Portland BIA office regarding the process that would need to be followed in order to secure approval for the new ramp. ODOT’s letter resulted from BIA’s request for comments on the draft EIS. The extensive process detailed by ODOT includes both state and federal sign-off for the exception.

According to the Oregon Highway Plan, the spacing for access points to the interstate highway system is three miles measured from cross roads in urban areas, and six miles measured from cross roads for rural interchanges. There are currently three urban access points and one rural access point in Cascade Locks; the addition of the proposed access point at Forest Lane would trigger the need for a Design Exemption Request filed to ODOT.

The new interchange that would be required at Forest Lane would also require changes to more than a quarter-mile of the Historic Columbia River Highway. The Historic Columbia River Highway between Troutdale, Oregon, and The Dalles, Oregon, was built through the Gorge between 1913 and 1922. It was the first planned scenic roadway in the United States and has been recognized in numerous ways, including a listing on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark, designation as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers, and considered a "destination unto itself" as an All-American Road by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Furthermore, the Cascade Locks casino proposal does not meet BIA's own standards for granting a land trust transfer. A BIA guidance memo written by Assistant Interior Secretary Carl Artman, dated January 3, 2008, calls for the need to apply greater scrutiny toward a tribe's justification of anticipated benefits when the tribe applies to take land into trust for gaming purposes that is outside of, and noncontiguous to, a tribe’s reservation. The memo says that BIA should apply increased scrutiny as the distance between the tribe's reservation and the land to be acquired increases. The memo also states that tribes typically view off-reservation gaming facilities as providing two economic benefits to the tribe: first, the gaming revenue from the gambling casino, and second, the availability of job training and employment opportunities for tribal members.

The "anticipated benefits" of an off-reservation gambling casino are inversely related to the distance between the casino and the tribal community. The proposed off-reservation gambling casino is 109 miles from the tribal community of Warm Springs—a 218-mile daily commute around Mt. Hood. This distance would increase to well over 300 miles in winter when portions of the highway are closed by snow and ice. In addition, when an off-reservation gambling casino is located far from the tribal community—outside a "commutable distance"—there can be negative effects on tribal and reservation life.

A commute of 218 miles would keep tribal casino workers away from home for long periods each day, possibly causing undue harm to their families and community, even before the economic cost associated with traveling such a great distance is calculated. The community could suffer further if a significant number of tribal members make this long daily trip on already unsafe and congested roads that frequently experience inclement weather. The BIA guidance memo is clear about the need to thoroughly evaluate the negative effects of the proposed casino on reservation life and demonstrate why they are outweighed by the anticipated financial benefits of a distant off-reservation gambling casino.

Encouraging a 218 mile commute when the cost of gasoline is still creating huge burdens on the family budget underscores the foolishness of a Cascade Locks gambling casino site for Warm Springs employees.

For the many reasons I have stated, the proposed gambling casino in Cascade Locks should not be approved. I am not alone in reaching this conclusion. The public hearings held by the BIA in March in Warm Springs, Oregon; Cascade Locks, Oregon; Stevenson, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and Hood River, Oregon were attended by hundreds of people who came to express their opposition to a development that would irreversibly damage the Gorge. Would we permit construction of a gambling casino in the Grand Canyon or Yosemite Valley?

The Warm Springs tribe should reconsider other appropriate, non-Gorge sites for its proposed casino. The casino does not need to be located in either Cascade Locks or Hood River—this is a false choice that distracts from the consideration of numerous viable non-Gorge sites. Oregon is a big state, and the Warm Springs tribe resides on its biggest reservation which spans 640,000 acres. The long-standing policy of one casino per tribe, on reservation, still gives the Warm Springs a number of sensible and profitable options.  

It is my firm belief that this proposed gambling casino should not be approved. Oregon is home to many national treasures, and the Columbia River Gorge, a spectacular and unique 80-mile long, 4,000-feet deep sea level cut through the Cascade Mountain Range, is our crown jewel. The Gorge is part of who we were, who we are, and who we will be. The proposed gambling casino would be a blight on our identity, and severely detrimental to the surrounding environment.

As the first ever National Scenic Area, the Columbia River Gorge belongs to all Oregonians, and in fact, to all Americans. Prohibiting the development of a gambling casino will preserve the Columbia River Gorge as the crown jewel of Oregon’s natural beauty for generations to come. I urge you to consider this issue as my primary environmental concern for my constituents, my state, and indeed the region.

Sincerely,

David Wu
Member of Congress


cc: Phil Schiliro,
    Director of Congressional Relations