Koi Nation Casino Project Gets 11th-Hour Approval from Federal Govt.

Posted on: January 14, 2025, 08:14h. 

Last updated on: January 14, 2025, 09:05h.

The outgoing Biden administration on Monday approved the Koi Nation’s land trust application for a casino in Sonoma County in the heart of California wine country.

Koi Nation, Shiloh Casino, Sonoma County, Windsor casino, Graton Rancheria
An artist’s rendering of the proposed Koi Nation casino in Sonoma County, Calif., which received federal approval Monday. (Image: Koi Nation)

The decision from the US Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is the final hurdle in a long process for the Nation, which has harbored ambitions to build a $600 million facility just outside Windsor since 2021.

The approval comes days after the agency greenlighted two contentious tribal casino projects, the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indian’s proposed $700 million venue, to be built in Vallejo in California’s Solano County, and the Coquille Indian Tribe’s planned gaming venue for the town of Medford, Ore.

The Koi Nation proposal is no less controversial. Like the Scotts Valley Band and the Coquille tribe, the Nation’s claimed ancestral ties to the land in Sonoma County are disputed by other tribes in the area.

Ancestral Ties

Under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), tribes must demonstrate a historical connection to lands acquired for gaming for those lands to be taken into trust by the federal government. “Taking land into trust” describes the process by which the government converts a parcel of land into sovereign territory, partially removing it from the jurisdiction of the state, a requirement for tribal gaming.

Last month, the Graton Rancheria tribe (FIGR) sued the Interior Department in a bid to block the BIA from approving the application. FIGR operates the Graton Hotel & Casino in Rohnert Park, just 15 miles away from the proposed Koi Nation site.

FIGR argued in its complaint that the area was historically inhabited by Southern Pomo tribes whose “language and culture are distinct from other Pomo tribes,” such as the Koi Nation. “These linguistic, cultural, and territorial boundaries have persisted over millennia,” claimed the lawsuit.

The Nation says its people have been in the region for “thousands of years” and argues FIGR is just afraid of competition.

Order Vacated

A federal judge on Friday vacated a temporary restraining order connected to the FIGR lawsuit that prevented the BIA from greenlighting the project.

The government’s approval fills our hearts with promise and hope,” Darin Beltran, chairman of the Koi Nation Tribal Council, said in a statement. “The Koi Nation has been afforded for the first time in over a century a real opportunity to build a sovereign land base that will provide economic development, self-governance, and a bright future for current and future generations of our tribal citizens.”

Greg Sarris, the FIGR chairman, told The Press Democrat that the decision was “a travesty.”

“[It’s] a political move that was very carefully timed by the Koi and the Department of Interior, to do this during an election year and to railroad this through at the 11th hour,” Sarris said. “This is shamefully handed down just before the current team at Interior turns out the lights.”

Like the Scotts Valley and Coquille projects, the Nation’s plan is likely to face legal challenges and an incoming administration that is expected to be less receptive to off-reservation casino projects.