Tribe Fights for New Casino in Madera County

FRESNO, CA - The North Fork Mono Tribe plan a $250 million resort casino in Madera County. The site is 305 acres near the Madera Municipal Airport just west of Highway 99 and south of Avenue 18. The project will include:

• Half-million square feet
• 2,000 slot machines
• 70 table game
• Hotel - 200 rooms
• Restaurants - 3

The next step towards federal approval is the review of a recently completed environmental study. It identifies the pro and con issues of building the casino. The casino is projected to generate up to 50 million dollars a year in new spending in Madera County, and create 1,500 new jobs. A key problem is the estimated 10 tons of pollution that will be produced annually. To compensate the tribe will pay about five million dollars per year for new police and firefighters.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has scheduled a public hearing Wednesday March 12th at the Madera Fairgrounds to hear comments regarding the environmental study. They will also accept written comments through the end of the month.

If federal approval is granted and the governor agrees, construction could start in early 2009.

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