San Juan Capistrano’s Juane & #324;o Band of Mission Indians is set to start talks with a federal agency next month on becoming recognized as the first “sovereign tribe” here in Orange County,a step that could lead to gaining federal land to develop.
Is building a casino on the wish list? The Juane & #324;o tried unsuccessfully eight years ago to bring a casino to San Juan Capistrano.
Anthony Rivera, chairman of the Juane & #324;o, said development of a casino is one of several possible projects under consideration.
Other options could include development, possibly with outside investors, of stores, recreation, resort and entertainment and tourism projects, or a professional sports franchise, Rivera said.
“We feel very confident going into this process,” said Rivera, who represents an estimated 3,400 registered tribal members.
The Juane & #324;o still must peg what federal land they want placed into a trust, a process set to take place as the tribe applies for federal recognition, tribal officials said.
A survey of federal land with cultural and religious importance to the tribe is part of the process, which is estimated to take at least 18 months.
Tribe officials said they’re not solely focused on a casino, which likely would face opposition.
Garden Grove’s Troubles
Garden Grove officials have looked at bringing a Las Vegas-style casino to their city as a way to offset a nearly $13 million budget deficit. The plan has prompted outcry from residents. In May, Gov. Arnold Schwarz-enegger said he wouldn’t negotiate with tribes for casinos in urban areas.
Cheryl Schmidt, founder and director of Stand Up for California, a Sacramento-area group that opposes casinos, card rooms and other gambling in California’s neighborhoods, called the Juane & #324;o bid “significant.”
Seeking federal recognition could help counter stonewalling from local or state officials who might oppose casino development, she said.
“They have every right to build a casino in an urban area, and casinos are the financial engine that provides the funding for all other financial activity of the tribe,” Schmidt said.
The Juane & #324;o have hired lawyers and accountants to help gain sovereignty status from the Department of Federal Acknowledgement, an agency of the Interior Department.
The agency reviews petitioning tribes to determine if they can show that they existed continuously from historic times to present.
The Juane & #324;o have been pursuing their special status through courts and regulatory processes for decades. The tribe already is recognized by the state.
To help the Juane & #324;o in its regulatory petition, the tribe has hired Walter C. Otto and Associates in Newport Beach, which has provided audit services for casinos, fraud investigations and other Indian tribal issues.
It also retained Greg Cervantes, a former public affairs director for the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, a casino operator in Indio that fell behind on its bills and dismissed Cervantes and other senior officers.
The Juane & #324;o are at an early stage of surveying federal land in OC with an eye toward getting some predetermined amount of acreage set aside in a trust for establishing a reservation, Rivera said.
“The tribe is in the process of looking at all of this land,” he said.
The area that the tribe plans to survey for possible trust land includes a broad swath of territory, notably all of OC, ranging from the southern border of Los Angeles County to northern San Diego County and parts of western Riverside County.
In OC, the federal government owns a total of 56,875 acres of land, according to Angela Burrell, a spokeswoman for the county’s Resources Development and Management Department.
Nearly all of the land is in the Cleveland National Forest. The federal land includes about 1,000 acres in the northeastern corner of the former El Toro Marine base. The Federal Aviation Administration owns the acreage, called the El Toro National Wildlife Refuge Conservation.
Most of the former El Toro base now is in the hands of Miami-based Lennar Corp., which plans to develop homes, offices and a series of parks there.
The remaining undeveloped El Toro site is of interest, Rivera said. The tribe also plans to look at other federally owned land in the county, he said.
Rivera declined to identify the federal spots under consideration.
A map provided by the county shows 54,571 acres of federal land in the Cleveland National Forest, 98 acres in the Amarus Salt Marsh area at the mouth of the Santa Ana River in Newport Beach, 115 acres in the Carbon Canyon Regional Park in Brea, 130 acres in the Craig Regional Park in Fullerton and 960 acres at the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge.
The Juane & #324;o issue doesn’t seem to be high on the radars of elected officials. Calls to Rep. Loretta Sanchez and others didn’t promp responses.
