U.S. District judge Amit P. Mehta rules the tribes failed to establish how they would be harmed by the Coquille Indian Tribe’s Cedars at Bear Creek project in south Medford

By Damian Mann for the Rogue Valley Times

Tribes from Southern Oregon and Northern California plan to appeal a federal judge’s second ruling last week in favor of a Medford casino.

U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta ruled the tribes — the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, the Karuk Tribe, and Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation — failed to establish how they would be harmed by the Coquille Indian Tribe’s Cedars at Bear Creek casino on South Pacific Highway in south Medford.

In January, the Bureau of Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior approved the Medford casino after more than a decade of legal and bureaucratic efforts by the Coquille tribe.

This is the second time Mehta has ruled against halting the Medford casino as part of ongoing litigation.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs placed 2.4 acres around Roxy Ann Lanes in Medford into the Coquille’s tribal land, which paves the way for the casino.

Since then, the Coquille, which also operates the Mill Casino in North Bend, has installed more than two-dozen video gambling machines and has continued with planning efforts for a large gaming facility at the former Roxy Ann Lanes.

The Cedars at Bear Creek would require remodeling the Coquille’s Roxy Ann Lanes into a gaming facility that would include a 16,000-square-foot gaming floor with gaming machines, a bar and other services.

Class II gaming machines include video gambling based on bingo, which are different than the Class III slot machines in Vegas. The Coquille plan does not include table games such as blackjack, poker or dice.

The three tribes have denounced the Coquille’s casino plans, and have filed an intent to appeal after Mehta’s recent ruling.

In Mehta’s ruling, he found the tribes didn’t provide sufficient information to prove they would be economically harmed. Two of the casinos — the Cow Creek and Karuk — indicated they would see revenues decline by more than 20% by 2029.

In an email response, the Cow Creek, which runs Seven Feathers Casino Resort in Canyonville, say the Medford casino is far from the ancestral home of the Coquille on the Oregon coast.

“This project not only undermines ancestral homeland integrity but the integrity of all tribal gaming by operating illegally without the licenses required under federal tribal gaming regulations,” the tribe stated. “It’s simple — one cannot restore lands they never had — and the Coquille do not have any ancestral ties to this land.”

The Cow Creek stated, “That is not the only illegal part about this casino — the Coquille is operating illegally today, despite records clearly showing the denial by the National Indian Gaming Commission for an expedited license.”

The Karuk run Rain Rock Casino in Yreka, California, and the Tolowa operate the Lucky 7 on Northern California coast near the border with Oregon.

A series of letters obtained by the Cow Creek through a public records request describes correspondence between the Coquille and the National Indian Gaming Commission over potential violations of gaming regulations at the Medford casino.

On Dec. 2, 2024, a letter from Sharon Avery, acting chairwoman of the National Indian Gaming Commission, references a denial of a 60-day expedited waiting period for a gaming license instead of a 120-day period.

The Coquille in the letter disagreed with the Gaming Commission’s interpretation of the regulations.

On Jan. 20, the Coquille sent the National Indian Gaming Commission a letter which refers to finding a resolution that avoids any “enforcement action” over a potential violation of the waiting period.

The letter noted that it would voluntarily address “safety concerns the staff raised for the first time in a Jan. 17 email about the roof of the Roxy Lanes facility.”

Gaming activities have continued “under the expectation and hope that the NIGC (Gaming Commission) will grant the tribe’s requests,” according to the letter.

On Feb. 6, the Cow Creek sent a letter to the Gaming Commission urging immediate enforcement action for “unauthorized gaming operations.”

The Coquille, contacted Monday, did not respond for a request for comment and have previously declined to comment because of ongoing litigation.

Reach freelance writer Damian Mann at [email protected]. This story first appeared in the Rogue Valley Times.