Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians

Background

The Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians is a federally recognized Native American tribe whose historical territory centered on the Scotts Valley area of Lake County, California, near Clear Lake. Like many California tribes, the band's land base and legal status were disrupted by federal Indian policy during the 19th and 20th centuries. Today it functions as a landless federally recognized government, which shapes nearly every aspect of its economic development strategy.

Entry into Tribal Gaming

The tribe's modern push into gambling began in the early 2000s, when the financially struggling city of Vallejo began exploring a tribal casino as an economic development catalyst. Vallejo, which later filed for municipal bankruptcy in 2008, viewed a casino as a potential source of revenue-sharing payments, local jobs, and ancillary economic activity. The tribe and city entered into development agreements in the mid-2000s, and the band acquired property in Vallejo for the proposed resort. Public estimates put the project at approximately $700 million, envisioning a destination resort with a substantial gaming floor, hotel, dining, and entertainment amenities, to be operated under a compact with the State of California as required by the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

The Land-into-Trust Obstacle

The central regulatory barrier has always been the land-into-trust process. Because the Scotts Valley Band has no reservation, a casino could only be authorized if the Secretary of the Interior accepted the Vallejo parcels into federal trust. The tribe pursued this application through the 2000s and 2010s. The legal landscape shifted dramatically with the U.S. Supreme Court's 2009 decision in Carcieri v. Salazar, which held that the Interior Secretary may take land into trust only for tribes that were "under federal jurisdiction" as of 1934. Casino opponents argued that the Scotts Valley Band could not satisfy that historical test.

Despite those objections, the Interior Department approved the tribe's land-into-trust request during the Trump administration. That approval was immediately challenged in federal court by casino opponents. A federal district court subsequently ruled against the government's decision, blocking the project—the ruling referenced in the Focus GN article through which this organization was first identified. The Scotts Valley Band has appealed, and the city of Vallejo has continued to support the development. As of the latest reporting, the casino remains unbuilt and the litigation continues.

Business Model and Current Status

Because the casino has not been built, the tribe's current operations consist primarily of tribal governmental services to its enrolled members, including health, housing, education, and cultural programs funded through federal programs and other sources. The proposed casino resort would be the tribe's largest commercial venture and its main path toward sustained revenue generation. The project remains the most economically significant development initiative in the tribe's modern history.

Broader Significance

The Scotts Valley Band's case carries significance beyond Vallejo. It tests the limits of the Interior Department's authority to restore trust land for landless California tribes and affects numerous other bands with similar casino ambitions. The appellate outcome could therefore shape tribal gaming policy across the state and influence how the federal government treats landless tribes seeking economic self-sufficiency through gaming.