The Wilton Miwok Rancheria, fresh from winning federal tribal recognition, has tripped alarms among Sacramento County and Elk Grove officials about effects on local communities if the tribe eventually opens a casino.

"We don't know what their plans are," said Paul Hahn, administrator for the Sacramento County Municipal Services Agency. "But if a casino is allowed there, the Wilton folks haven't even had a chance to weigh in."

The tribe won recognition last month in U.S. District Court in San Jose after settling a lawsuit against the federal Department of the Interior. About 400 people have been identified so far as members, including Dorothy Andrews, who was listed as a lawsuit plaintiff.

The settlement and subsequent federal court judgment prompted Sacramento County Executive Terry Schutten and Elk Grove City Manager Laura Gill to jointly urge Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office to intervene.

Wilton, which includes the tribe's historic lands, is in southern Sacramento County south of the Cosumnes River. Elk Grove, northwest of Wilton, seeks to expand its sphere of influence – and one day its boundaries – to just north of the river.

In their letter, Schutten and Gill letter challenged the Interior Department's role in the settlement, arguing that it had "usurped … congressional authority" and saying the agreement should be overturned.

"We don't know if we have a problem yet," Hahn said. "The concern is that the Wilton community has had no chance to hear or talk about it.

"There is now a recognition that (the tribe) … conceivably could build a casino," Hahn said. "We're trying to slow this thing down and go through a typical process."

Gill said a casino would affect traffic on Grant Line and Wilton roads – thoroughfares used by Elk Grove residents and the main connectors for the community of Wilton. "We're worried about the ability to maintain our thoroughfare network and be able to ensure public safety," Gill said.

She also cited reports of increased crime near other casinos.

The city-county request for intervention by the Governor's Office failed, she said.

But one legal expert said any effort by local governments to win state intervention in a federal court case over tribal recognition likely would not gain legal traction.

"Federal recognition of a tribe is a matter of federal law," said Joseph Wiseman, an expert on Indian law at Santa Rosa's Empire College Law School. "They don't have a dog in that fight. They are not necessary parties" to the process.

Gill, however, said that any casino plan requires a state compact, which would involve local jurisdictions. Concessions such as traffic mitigation could come through that process.

In the shorter term, tribal recognition opens the door to members receiving education, health care and other federal benefits once tribal government is re-established.

It means the tribe can begin the long, involved process of reclaiming lands, typically within traditional tribal areas, and can have those properties either placed in trust or placed under outright ownership. It also would have authority to pursue the construction and operation of an Indian casino on future tribal lands.

The tribe's attorney in Elk Grove, Christina Kazhe, offered reassurance that any such move would not come soon and would occur in consultation with local governments and residents.

"A casino is an option," Kazhe said. "I don't know if it's their primary option. But there is nothing to prohibit them from doing that." The tribe's immediate focus will be to re-establish its membership and council and to resume federal services to members, she said. For that, the tribe does not need a land base.

Former reservation lands, 38.5 acres along Rancheria Drive, in many cases have passed into non-Indian ownership. Parcels have been divided in a fashion that makes it difficult for the tribe to piece together its former holdings for a new land base, Kazhe said.

"We don't want the people now living on that land to be afraid that the tribe is going to go back over there and reclaim that land without consultation," she said. "We don't want to cause undue concern."

Federally recognized tribes are sovereign nations, not subject to approvals from local or state governments. In recent years, however, they increasingly have sought to gain trust and the support of public agencies.

Call The Bee's Loretta Kalb, (916) 321-1073.