Chief, governor agree to expanded gaming compact

By Lisa Majors-Duff

The new 30-year compact also establishes a foundation to promote growth management on the reservation, environmental protection and preservation of Cherokee culture. The amendment to the compact is subject to approval by the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees issues involving Indian tribes in the U.S.

Additionally, the agreement mandates that employees of Harrah's Cherokee Casino be no younger than 21 and that criminal background checks be performed on potential employees in the casino's child care facility.

The amendment would allow for the expansion of casino facilities on the same site where they are now located, as authorized by the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

"The tribe needed this amendment to be on firm ground in building its hotel," said Tad Boggs with the governor's press office. Since the governor is obligated to negotiate in good faith with tribal authorities on gaming matters, he initiated the growth management measures to ensure the environment and the culture are protected as the area grows, Boggs said.

Also included in the amendment is a requirement that the tribe make at least 7,500 referrals or complimentary room nights available yearly to non-tribally-owned hotels.

"This was seen as throwing a bone to the other innkeepers in the area who saw a five-star hotel coming that could possibly hamper their ability to compete," Boggs said. Tribal and casino officials broke ground on the 250-room hotel and conference center in September.

"This agreement represents new opportunities for the reservation and its families in terms of creating jobs, protecting the quality of life and preserving the traditional aspects of Cherokee culture," Hunt said. "It would set up a process unique in North Carolina to examine how the growth of the region will be carried out, so that we can prevent economic success from hurting the community's natural beauty, air and water quality, and greenspace preservation."

Jones was unavailable for comment early Wednesday morning. Harrah's spokesperson Marsha Cameron did not immediately return phone calls.

If approved, the agreement would establish a 10-person board of directors appointed by the governor for the foundation. It would include the chief of the Eastern Band; the chair of the Tribal Council; two tribal members from candidates recommended by the chief; two tribal members chosen at-large; three at-large members; and one county commissioner from one of Haywood, Jackson, Swain, Macon, Clay, Graham or Cherokee counties.

According to the agreement, the foundation's board would work to protect and enhance the natural resources of the tribal lands, as well as to resist long-term degradation on the reservation from increased traffic and growth. It also would promote community economic development and employment opportunities on or near tribal lands and provide funding for preservation of the history, tradition, culture, language, crafts, arts and heritage of the Cherokee people.

The foundation, which will receive a minimum of $5 million in funding from the tribe each year from gaming profits, would authorize and fund projects "promoting family and outdoor entertainment and sporting activities, projects promoting non-gaming economic development and projects enhancing, protecting and preserving the culture of the tribe," the document states. Projects outside the reservation in Haywood, Jackson, Swain, Macon, Clay, Graham and Cherokee counties would also be eligible for funding.

The Tribal Council also has agreed to conduct a comprehensive study of ordinances and regulations needed to protect the natural resources of the reservation and to implement "smart growth" principles to prevent long-term degradation in connection with the establishment of gaming activities on the reservation. The new regulations must be enacted within two years of the approval of the compact amendment by the federal government and would set a new precedent for growth planning on the local level in North Carolina.

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