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Casino Opponents Want Study Release Postponed

WASHINGTON – As reported by the Columbian: "A group fighting the Cowlitz Tribe's casino plans has urged the federal government to postpone release of a massive study on the project until additional work is completed.

"Citizens Against Reservation Shopping, a group formed by businessman and philanthropist Ed Lynch that includes Columbian Publisher Scott Campbell, wants the government to expand the alternatives studied and examine the combined effects of all casino proposals in the Portland-Vancouver area.

"Peter Mohr, a Portland attorney representing Citizens Against Reservation Shopping, made those requests Tuesday in a letter to Jim Cason, an associate deputy secretary at the Interior Department and the official who will make the final decision on the Cowlitz Tribe's request.

"Mohr wrote that the draft environmental impact statement, which is expected to be released in the next couple of weeks, is 'a biased and outcome-oriented document that reads like a prospectus for the casino at the La Center site, not a balanced review of the proposed action, its impacts, and alternatives.'

"Suzanne Schaeffer, a Washington, D.C., attorney representing the Cowlitz Tribe, said the draft study has not been released and Citizens Against Reservation Shopping has no way of knowing what will be in that document…"

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