Feds issue final approval for Coquille Tribe’s Oregon casino; opposing tribes and U.S. senator seek to block it

Sunday, January 12, 2025 8:01 PM
Photo:  Coquille Indian Tribe (courtesy)
  • Nigel Jaquiss, Willamette Week

The U.S. Department of the Interior signed a record of decision Jan. 10, the final step in a lengthy approval process, greenlighting the development of the Coquille Indian Tribe’s proposed casino in Medford.

“Today the Biden Administration sent a clear message: it stands with Indian Country and intends to honor its commitments to tribal sovereignty,” Brenda Meade, chair of the Coquille Tribe, said in a statement. “Waiting almost 13 years for an environmental review process to review two acres was a ridiculous weaponization of the federal National Environmental Policy Act process used to punish the Coquille Tribe for taking a legal course of action to provide for its own citizens after termination.”