01.09.07Big Lagoon acquires 16 acres
Big Lagoon Rancheria announced Monday in a news release the purchase of 16 additional acres along the North Coast of California, adjacent to the tribe’s 20-acre ancestral lands of Big Lagoon in Humboldt County.
Virgil Moorehead, Big Lagoon Tribal spokesman, stated in the release that the tribe is considering various uses for the property, including the restoration of the original village where the tribe historically settled.
The tribe will consider filing a land-into-trust application with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs.
In September 2005, the Big Lagoon Rancheria signed a compact with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that allows the tribe to build a casino in the city of Barstow (San Bernardino County) in partnership with the Los Coyotes Band. As part of the compact, the Big Lagoon Rancheria also signed a settlement agreement with the state of California that calls on the tribe to forgo gaming development on the tribe’s ancestral land along the scenic Northern California coastline in exchange for a gaming project in Barstow.
The tribe narrowly ["narrowly" is a false representation made in Moorehead's press release since the Tribe only secured six votes total out of a combined membership of 120 total legislators in both houses] lost its bid for the Barstow project in the California Legislature during the 2006 legislative session. It plans to support the re-introduction of enabling legislation this year to ratify its compact.
Under the terms of the compact, California lawmakers must ratify the compact with legislation in 2007 or the settlement agreement with the state would be invalidated, forcing a court-mandated settlement.
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The Verifiable Truth: Big Lagoon Rancheria purchases 16 acres
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