Settle it

Here we go again … The Butte County Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday (July 26) to mount another legal objection to the Mechoopda Indian Tribe’s claim to land south of Chico. Just counting the appeals filed in federal court, not any procedural motions, this will mark the fourth time the county has taken the tribe and the U.S. government to court in an attempt to block the Mechoopda’s planned development, centered around a casino.

The decision came just 11 days after a New York judge on a D.C. district bench ruled that the Department of the Interior had considered “all the relevant issues” when designating the property as tribal land. (See “Tribe on top” in July 21 Newslines.) Supervisors, who deliberated in closed session, were divided 3-2, with Chico’s Maureen Kirk and Larry Wahl dissenting.

The county contends the 625-acre parcel along Highway 149 presents so many issues related to traffic, public safety and environmental impacts that it should not be developed. We understand that concern. However, we cannot go along with the second part of the county’s argument, which has formed the basis of its legal challenge.

County officials, leaning heavily on the research of one historian, assert that the Mechoopda have no right to the land because they cannot prove that their ancestors migrated that far from the Chico Rancheria. We assert that no one can prove the Mechoopda didn’t.

The era of John Bidwell was not chronicled by Twitter and Facebook on GPS-enabled smartphones. It’s presumptuous to say a specific tribe frequented what’s now Silver Dollar Fairgrounds but not a creekside greenbelt accessible by horse and foot.

The county may see this tack as its avenue of recourse, due to tribal sovereignty. The Mechoopda see the supervisors’ decision as “desperately trying to derail” the tribe’s efforts and, in the same statement, labeled legal action a “futile attempt” that will “waste more local money.”

After eight years of court appearances and attorneys’ fees for both parties, we believe it’s time to drop the legal battle. Understandably, there are some hurt feelings involved, but we believe the tribe is capable of rising above that to work with the county to resolve issues. The alternative—continuous, contentious litigation—serves no one.