Amador tribe wins federal right to seek state permission for new casino in Plymouth

After years of court fights and citizen efforts to halt the construction of a third casino in Amador County, the Ione Band of Miwok Indians has won federal approval for 220 acres of tribal land to be placed into trust as a possible site for a Las Vegas-style gaming hall.

The tribe says the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs agreed last week to place the land in Plymouth adjacent to Highway 49 into federal trust for the tribe, which allows them to seek an agreement with the state of California to open a new casino in the area.

“For the Ione Band this isn’t just about the development of a gaming operation, this is really about restoring the land base we can use to support our members in the futrure,” tribal Chairwoman Sara Dutschke said in a telephone interview. “We’ve waited a very long time for this.”

The tribe has been trying to win permission for a casino on the land since 2004, but county officials and area residents have opposed the effort, arguing it would bring more traffic and other problems to a county that already has two other casinos: Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort and Harrah’s Northern California Casino in Ione.

Three Plymouth city council members were recalled from office by voters in 2004 over their support for negotiations with the tribe.

The county sued in federal court in Sacramento to stop the development, arguing that the tribe had no historical ties to the area and no right to open a gaming center on land acquired in 2012.

But a federal judge ruled in 2015 that Ione Band was “a recognized Indian tribe under federal jurisdiction in 1934” and that there was no legal basis for invalidating the land acquisition.

The tribe has argued that its members trace back generations to Indians who lived in what later became established as Amador County. Today, the tribe says, it is comprised of 750 members.

Dutschke said there was no way to predict how quickly the tribe could move forward on negotiations with the state because of the COVID-19 crisis.

“Certainly, the coronavirus pandemic has thrown a wrench into our plans,” she said.