Tribe victorious over state in gaming compact lawsuit
The Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-wuk Indians of California was issued a legal victory over the state this week by a federal ruling that said Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state of California negotiated in bad faith with five native tribes over gaming contracts.
“The Tribe had a compact with the state that had worked since 1999, so the Tribe was hopeful that a new compact would be negotiated fairly quickly,” said Lloyd Mathiesen, chairman of the Chicken Ranch Rancheria Tribal Council, in a news release disseminated by the office of the attorney representing the majority of the native tribes. “We tried, but after five years of negotiations it was painfully clear that the state wanted more from the Tribe than it had a right to ask for. The state’s actions threatened our sovereignty. We had no choice but to resist, and litigation became our only option.”
The Native American tribes involved in the lawsuit were the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, the Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Mewuk Indians, the Hopland Band of Pomo Indians, the Robinson Rancheria and Blue Lake Rancheria.
The suit against the state was reportedly over the state trying to include provisions in the negotiated contracts that were “improper under federal law,” the release said.
Negotiations between California and many of the 74 gaming tribes began in 2014. The suit was filed in 2019. Newsom was lieutenant governor at the time the negotiations began and was elected to serve as governor in 2018.
Lester J. Marston represented four of the plaintiffs, while David B. Dehnert represented the Blue Lake Rancheria.
The opinion on the case was issued on March 31 by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.
The California Attorney General’s Office said in an email that they were representing the Governor’s Office in the case and suggested reaching out
displayed near the end of Shell Road. Shell Road, which is maintained by the county up to the gate at the trailhead.
Complaints about parking and access for emergency vehicles often go to the county Sheriff’s Office and the California Highway Patrol.
Robertson said he wants Tuolumne County to take control of the parking situation. His mother-in-law was on a committee to deal with visitors parking on Shell Road. They got a surveyor to come out with the intent of creating a parking lot about a mile beyond the gate on Shell Road, near a permanent bathroom structure that was eventually put in seven to nine years ago, Robertson said.
“That parking lot never happened,” he said. “I want the county, at minimum, to maintain the dirt road so more vehicles can go park at the bathroom. The parking shouldn’t be here period. The gate should be open and it should be obvious for visitors they can drive to park by the bathroom.”
Arlene Moyle, 83, and her husband, Clifford Moyle, 82, are among several property owners near the end of Shell Road who are livid about what they view as unmanaged, chaotic parking at the trailhead for Table Mountain. The Moyles live on a ranch covering about 18 acres, land that goes back in the family more than a century.
Clifford Moyle was born under an oak tree next to Shell Road in June 1938, he said Friday at the top of their driveway.
“Lived here my whole life,” he said, sitting at the wheel of his pickup. “The way this road is, the traffic and the people, they should have more sense than to park there and plug a right of way, because the fire trucks and ambulances. Last Saturday, they couldn’t even get through.”
Property owner Shelly Loewen said Friday she called CHP to complain about illegally parked vehicles blocking the gate at the Table Mountain trailhead about two hours before the visitor fell last Saturday. She wasn’t the only property owner to call.
According to the Tuolumne County Fire Department, calls for help came at 1:45 p.m. last Saturday for an injured hiker at Table Mountain in an area known as The Grotto, an area with hundred-foot cliffs that is popular with rock climbers. Some use ropes and climbing gear. Some climb unroped.
Engine 761 from Jamestown Station 76 responded along with Columbia Fire Protection District, Cal Fire’s Tuolumne Calaveras Unit, Tuolumne County Search and Rescue, CHP, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, according to a county fire department social media post.
About 1.5 miles from the trailhead parking area and the gate at the end of Shell Road, firefighters and others worked to locate and begin treatment and removal of the injured visitor.
“The patient fell from a distance estimated at 20 feet, sustaining a broken left arm and head lacerations,” Tuolumne County Fire Department communications staff said. “Due to the extended time frame of a rescue helicopter, fire crews hiked the patient out to the awaiting Tuolumne County Ambulance.”
A Bureau of Reclamation ranger based at New Melones drove through the gate at the end of Shell Road toward Table Mountain on Friday. She said she couldn’t comment for the record on the parking situation at the end of Shell Road.
Mary Lee Knecht, a designated public affairs officer for the federal Bureau of Reclamation based in Sacramento, said Friday that the agency is working with the Tuolumne County Public Works Department,
Sheriff’s Office, Caltrans, County Supervisor Jaron Brandon, and local residents to discuss and address current parking issues.
The Bureau of Reclamation, which owns and manages New Melones and its recreation sites, came under fire last year for similar parking, crowding, access, and related safety issues at the popular caves site known as Natural Bridges next to Parrotts Ferry Road in Calaveras County.