In California where they seek approvals for twin casino resorts in Barstow, Detroit casino syndicators argue it wouldn’t be prudent to build a casino resort on the shoreline of what’s said to be an environmentally sensitive and significant lagoon; but in New York they’re bankrolling plans that would develop a larger casino resort on the shores of the Great Peconic Bay – part of the Long Island Sound ecosystem.
Detroit casino syndicators lead by Mrs. Marian Ilitch and Michael J. Malik, Sr. are bankrolling plans for twin casino sites in Barstow by arguing, among other things, that even a modest Big Lagoon Rancheria Casino on the tribe’s existing reservation in Humboldt County would disturb the ecosystem of the Big Lagoon. They have said it “would potentially result in significant adverse impacts to off-Reservation lands and resources…” including the Big Lagoon Subdivision on the southern end of the Big Lagoon – two primary neighborhoods: (1) the 76 cabins/cottages dating to 1929 that constitute the Big Lagoon Park Colony; and (2) 33-newer homes in the Big Lagoon Estates.
They say the Big Lagoon has long been recognized as an important and environmentally sensitive natural habitat area – although they fail to explain it was used at one time as a bombing target practice range by the military and remains on the Defense Department’s pending cleanup sites lists; it’s surrounded by active timberlands downstream from a significant sawmill that was in operation for the better part of the 20th Century. Despite these facts, Peter Douglas, executive director of the California Coastal Commission, wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle that the area is “pristine” and referred to the Big Lagoon as an “untouched natural resource.”
The lagoon, separated from the Pacific Ocean by a narrow sand spit, is said to be a natural habitat for many special-status plant and animal species. The heavily wooded Harry A. Merlo State Recreation Area (a 1000-acre unit of the California State Park system), Humboldt Lagoons State Park, and Big Lagoon County Park surround the lagoon. The lagoon itself is a State Wildlife Area managed by the California Department of Fish & Game. There's never any mention of an additional 16+ acres the tribe also owns along the shoreline that's not yet held in Trust by the U.S. Government.
In New York these same Detroit gambling interests are bankrolling a billion dollar lawsuit and singing quite a different tune; ultimately intended to win approvals for the Shinnecock Indian Nation to develop a casino & hotel resort off-reservation lands on Long Island’s East End (that’s on the outskirts of the posh resort area called "The Hamptons"). That property sits along the shore of the Great Peconic Bay National Estuary and is within the fragile and unique Long Island Pine Barrens – Peconic River Complex. And development in the surrounding area today is low density residential similar to the Big Lagoon Subdivision.
The Great Peconic Bay is the body of water between the North Fork and the South Fork of Long Island. It is bordered on the West by Flanders Bay and on the east by the Little Peconic Bay. The dividing line between the Great and Little Peconic Bays is Robins Island. The Shinnecock Canal provides access from the Great Peconic Bay to Shinnecock Bay.
The Nature Conservancy has named the East End of Long Island one of the "Last Great Places of the Western Hemisphere." The Peconic Bay system is recognized as one of 28 nationally significant estuaries and has been named as one of the nation's "Aquatic Great Places." The Pine Barrens is not only a unique and fragile ecosystem but a critical watershed supplying Eastern Long Island's sole water supply.Peconic Estuary Program
Nature Conservancy - Peconic Estuary
Pine Barrens Society
New York State Central Pine Barrens
Saving the Last Great Places of Long Island
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