A California tribe’s plans for a new casino 30 miles northeast of San Francisco are on hold while the Bureau of Indian Affairs reviews the approval issued in the final days of the Biden administration.
In a Thursday letter to the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians, Scott Davis, the acting assistant secretary for Indian affairs, informed the tribe that the Trump administration will “temporarily rescind” a gaming eligibility determination issued for the 160-acre site in Vallejo, California.
The site is one of three agreements the Biden administration struck in January to take land into trust for tribes in California and Oregon over the objections of other Native American tribes, congressional lawmakers and state officials. California is home to 20 percent of the nation’s 574 federally recognized tribes.
“The Department of the Interior has temporarily rescinded the determination that the Vallejo Site, held in trust for the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians of California, is eligible for gaming to ensure that all evidence has been fully considered,” said Joshua Barnett, a BIA spokesperson.
