Amador County – The U.S. Department of the Interior approved the casino and land fee-to-trust application of the Ione Band of Miwok Indians on Friday, May 25, clearing the way for the tribe’s casino and hotel project in and around Plymouth.

Tribal Chairwoman Yvonne Miller said Friday that the U.S. Department of the Interior approved the Ione Miwok Band’s application to place land into trust and that included the tribe’s projects to build a world class casino, hotel, restaurant and other facilities on land in and around Plymouth.

Miller said the decision was made by the office of the solicitor general and approved by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. She said the notification of the decision came at 1 p.m. eastern time on Friday, or 10 o’clock a.m. local time.

She said: “We are very excited,” and it has been a long time in coming. A 30-day posting period started on Friday, May 25 and people have that time to file a protest on the Interior Department’s decision.

Next steps would be to get the deed to the U.S. Government to put the land into trust, Miller said. Then have the projects that they prepared and start the projects that they have planned, including the casino and hotel, on the future trust land.

Miller said the tribe does not have a name for the casino and hotel project yet.

Yvonne Miller became Chairwoman of the Ione Band of Miwok Indians in 2011 when she was appointed to replace former Chairman Matthew Franklin. Miller said she was reelected in April as Chairwoman. Gil Jamerson is the current tribal vice chairman, and the rest of the Tribal Council is Yolanda Kohn as Secretary, Sandra Waters is treasurer and Jessica Santana is member at large.

The approved trust property is in Amador County, just outside city limits, she said, and some of it may be inside the city limits.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.