As everyone who lives in or near Amador County knows, the Ione Band of Miwok Indians has proposed building a casino on the edge of Plymouth. The Foothill Conservancy has been asked to join those who oppose the casino.

However, the Conservancy Board of Directors voted to approach the casino issue as we would any other development project. We will not take any position until an environmental analysis is conducted, more facts are known and other relevant issues are addressed.

Members of the Conservancy Board met with the Ione Band's tribal council last summer to discuss our general concerns and to hear about the tribe's goals for the project.

In an October letter, Conservancy President Katherine K. Evatt expressed our concerns to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which is to decide whether the federal government should take the land into trust - a necessary step before it can be used for a casino.

Like any large project, the proposed casino "has the potential to cause significant negative impacts to the local environment," she wrote to BIA and Department of Interior officials.

"The environmental impacts of the project should be completely evaluated and full mitigation assured before the federal government acts to take this land into trust," she wrote.

This should include a full environmental impact statement (EIS) that complies with federal and state environmental quality requirements.

"The EIS should evaluate all potential onsite and offsite environmental impacts including: water supply, wastewater treatment and disposal, traffic, public safety, noise pollution, light pollution, air quality, wildlife, and socioeconomic impacts," Evatt said.

The Conservancy's letter also urged the BIA to ask the Ione Band to "work with the local community in a facilitated stakeholder-based collaborative process to ensure that everyone's interests are addressed before taking the land into trust."

There's little doubt that the casino question will continue to dominate local discussion over the coming months. We will continue to approach it in a manner consistent with our organization's goals, history, and principles - open, constructive, respectful dialog; a focus on problem solving; and analysis based on specific facts.