Cowlitz Tribe's Opponents Demand to Examine the Casino Case

Citizens Against Reservation Shopping, a group formed by businessman and philanthropist Ed Lynch that includes Columbian Publisher Scott Campbell, wants the administration to expand the alternatives studied and examine the joint effects of all casino proposals in the Portland-Vancouver area. "Peter Mohr, a Portland attorney representing Citizens Against Reservation Shopping, made those requests Tuesday in a letter to Jim Cason, an associate deputy escritoire at the Interior Department and the official who will make the last decision on the Cowlitz Tribe's request.

"Mohr wrote that the summary ecological impact statement, which is expected to be released in the next couple of weeks, is 'a biased and outcome-oriented document that reads like a brochure for the casino at the La Center site, not a balanced review of the proposed action, its impacts, and alternatives.'