United States Department of the Interior 

OF'FICE OF THE SECRETARY 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240 TAKE PRIDE 

INAM ERICA 

Patrich Hermosillo 

-n 

Clovde Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California 

555 S. Cbvde Blvd., Suite A 

Clovedale, California 95425 

Dear Chairperson Hermosillo: 

In December of 2007, the Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California (Tribe) 

declared its intent to take certain lands in Cloverdale, California (Cloverdale Parcels or Parcels) into 

trust for the purpose of gaming. Since these Parcels will be "acquired by the Secretary in trust for 

the hefit of [the] [TJribe after October 17, 1988," they can only be eligible for gaming if they 

meet one of the exceptions within 25 U.S.C. $27 19. Therefore, the Tribe submitted a request 

seeking a determination from the Department of the Interior (Deparbnent) that the Parcels are 

eligible for gaming pursuant to 25 U.S .C. 8 27 19(b)(l)(B)(iii) (Restored Lands Exception) of the 

~ndian ~aming Replatory AC~ (IGRA).' 

The Restored Ws Exception says that the general gaming prohibition on after-acquired 

lands 'kill not apply when - lands are taken into trust as pa. of - the restoration of lands for an 

Indian tribe that is restored to Federal recognition," 25 U.S.C. 8 271 90(1)@)(iii). The statute 

requires two inquiries: 1) is the tribe a ''re&toxed tribe," and 2) will the lands be taken into trust as 

part of the restoration of lands for a restored tribe? In a Mmomdum dated November 12,2008, 

the Solicitor's Office (SOL) applied 25 C.F.R Part 292 - Gaming on Trust Lands Acquired ARer 

October 17,1988 and concluded that the Cloverdale Tribe h a restored tribe pursuant to IGk4's 

Restored Lands Exception. Since the Tribe is a restored tribe, the Secretary may address the second 

inquiry; whether the lands will be taken into trust as part of the restoration of lands for a restored 

tribe. The Department reviewed your request pursuant to the -rs detailed in 25 C.F.R Part 292. 

I have decided that if the Secretary take8 the Cloverdale Parcels into trust, the Parcels will be taken 

into trust as part of the restoration of lands for the Cloverdale Tribe. 

On August 25,2008, the Depariment regulations implementing 25 U. S.C. § 27 19 of IGRA 

became effective. The requirements to meet the Restored Lands Exception are detailed in Subpart 

B - Exceptions to Prohibitions on Gaming on Newly Acquired Lands: 

' The Trii submitted a Request for cur Indian Lcurd Detennhation for the adale Ramheria of Pomo Indians of 

Calijbmta on December 10,2007. 'Ilme Tribe's quest and subsequent supplemental submissions detail fhe masons 

why the Trii believes they are a =tored tribe id why the Secretary should take the Parcels into tmt as part of the 

restbration of lands for a hi that is restored to Federal recognition Thu submiwions also include Wed descriptions 

of the Pmb. In Decemba of 2005, tht Tni submitted a similar Rqwtfor an Indimr LundDefemhation. The 

Triba~the2005~~it~~~200f~tand~~didnmteonsid

as part of this mmnmndatioa 
Gaming may occur on newly acquired lands under this exception only when all of 

the following conditions in this section are met: 

(a) The tribe at one time was federally recognized, as evidenced by its 

meeting the criteria in 8 292.8; 

(b) The tribe at some later time lost its government-to-government 

relationship by one of the means specified in 6 292.9; 

(c) At a time after the tribe lost its government-to-government relationshipy 

the tribe was restored to Federal recognition by one of the means specified in 

5 292.10; and i I 

(d) The newly acquired lands meet the criteria of "restored lands" in 5 

292.1 1. 

25 C.F.R. 5 292.7. As discussed in the November 12,2008 Memorandum, the Tribe meets the 

criteria of sections 292.7(a)-(c) and thus qualifies as a "restored tribe." Section 292.7(d) directs us 

next to look at whether the Cloverdale Parcels meet the criteria of "restored lands" in 

section 292.1 1. As part of this examination, section 292.1 1 (c) points us toward additional 

requirements in section 292.12. r1f the tribe was restored by a Federal court determination in which 

the United States is a party or by a court-approvsd settlement agreement entered into by the United 

Sates, it must meet the requirements of 9 292.12"). Here, the Cloverdale Rancheria of Porno 

Indians was restored to Federal recognition pursuant to a Stipulation For Entry Of Judgment in 

Tillie Hardwick efd. v. UnifedStates, No. C-79-1710 SW (N.D. Cal., Dec. 22, 1983.). Therefore, 

the Tribe must meet the requirements of section 292.1 2. 

25 C.F.R 5 292.12 - The Cloverdale Parcels are cLresrtored lands" 

Section 292.12 answers the question, "[hlow does a tribe establish connections to newly 

acquired lands for the purposes of the 'restored lands' exception?" It reads: 

To establish a connection to the newly acquired lands for purposes of 4 292.1 1, the 

tribe must meet the criteria in this section. 

(a) The newly acquired lands must be located within the State or States where 

the tribe is now located, as evidenced by the tribe's governmental presence 

and tribal population, and the tribe must demonstrate one or more of the 

following modern connections to the land: 

(1) The land is within reasonable commuting distance of the tribe's existing 

reservation; 

(2) If the tribe has no reservation, the land is near where a significant number 

of tribal members reside; 

(3) The land is within a 25-mile radius of the tribe's headquarters or other 

tribal governmental facilities that have existed at that location for at least 2 

years at the time of the application for land-into-trust; or 

(4) Other factors demonstrate the tribe's current connection to the land. 

(b) The tribe must demonstrate a significant historical connection to the land. I I I 
(c) The tribe must demonstrate a temporal connection between the date of the 

acquisition of the land and the date of the tribe's restoration. To demonstrate 

this connection, the tribe must be able to show that either: 

(1) The land is included in the tribe's first request for newly acquired lands 

since the tribe was restored to Federal recognition; or 

(2) The tribe submitted an application to take the land into trust within 25 

years after the tribe was restored to Federal recognition and the tribe is not 

gaming on other lands. I 

25 C.F.R. § 292.12. 

The Tribe seeks to have appro&tely seventy (70) acres of land taken into trust in 

Cloverdale, California. The property as a whole consists of six (6) individual parcels. The parcels 

are contiguous to each other and in whole, the property is both contiguous and within the former 

Cloverdale Rancheria. (See map below on page 4). 

Section 292.12(a) requires that the "newly acquired lands must be located within the State or 

States where the tribe is now located, as evidenced by the tribe's governmental presence and tribal 

population." The Cloverdale Parceb are in a State (California) where the Tribe is now located. 

The Tribe has maintained government oEces in the City of Cloverdale on South Cloverdale 

Boulevard for over fourteen (1 4) years - since 1 994. Additionally, of the total tribal population of 

about four hundred and ninety-nine (4991, approximately sixty-six percent (66%) of the Tribe's 

members live within a 30-mile radius of the Parcels, sixty-nine percent (69%) within a 50-mile 

radius and eighty-two point five percent (82.5%) within a 100-mile radius. The 'hewly acquired 

lands" therefore, are located within the State or States where the Cloverdale Tribe is now located. 

"Newly acquired lands" is a defmed term andsimply means "land that harl been taken, or will be taken, in hvst for the 

Wt of an Indian tribe by the United States after October 17,19884' ! . 

I 'I i 3 I 
.-A AAA -.-AA - 

nmd ~qwly ~~uired ~aods lor the Cloverdale Raw 

Additionally, section 292.12(a) quires that the Tribe demonstrate a modem connection to 

the land by way of four different options. Here, the Tribe meets subsections 292.12(a)(3) and 

292.12(a)(4). Subsection (3) says that a tribe meets the modern connection requirement if "[tlhe 

land is witbin a 25-mile &us of the tribe's headquartem or other tribal governmental kilities that 

have existed at that location for at least 2 years at the time of the application for land-into-trust." 

The Tribe submitted an appMon for land-into-trust to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Pkific 

Regional Office in March of 2008. The Tribe maintains a tribal headquarters on South Clovde 

Bsulevard. The headquarters is approximately 3 miles from the Cloverdale Paroels. It has been at 

this location since 1994, well past the regulatory requirement of two years. Therefore, the Tribe 

satisfies subsection (3). 

The Tribe also meets the criteria in subsection (4). Subsection (4) allows a tribe to show a 

mudem connection through "[olther factors [that] demonstsate the tribe's current connection to the 

Id." Although the Tribe was tenhated in 1965, tribal members and their descendants continued 

to reside in the Cloverdale area. For example, at the time of restoration, two ori- dotment 

distributees of the former Cloverdale hcheria still lived on their allotments. The Tribe is 

*fore able to show a modem connection to the laad. 

Next, subsection 292.12(b) requires that "[t]he trib must dernomtntte a significant histopical 

co~nectiotl to the land." "Signirficant historical zlmectiod' is a defd term and ''means the land is 

low within the boundaries of the tribe's last reservation under a ratified or unratified treaty, or a 

hibe can demomtmk by historical documentation the h of the tribe's villages, burial 

4 
grounds, occupancy or subsistence use in the vicinity of the land." The Trike meets this 

requirement as well. The Tribe once occupied lands in the vicinity of the Cloverdale Parcels. 

Specifically, the Tribe began occupying the former Cloverdale Rancheria beginning in 1925 when 

the United States acquired the lands for the Tribe. The Cloverdale Parcels are not only in the 

vicinity where the Cloverdale Tribe once occupied and subsided on land, but actually contiguous to 

and within the former Cloverdale Rancheria. Additionally, them is a tribal cemetery within the 

Tribe's former Rancheria boundaries, which tribal members continue to use. The Tribe also 

submitted information regarding its ancestral and indigenous use of the lands in Cloverdale. This 

provides further evidence of its historical connection with the lands. Thus, the Tribe has 

successfully displayed that it has siwcant historical connections to the Cloverdale Parcels. 

i I 

Finally, subsection 292.1 2(c) re(luhs that "[t]he tribe must demonstrate a temporal 

connection between the date of the acquisition of the land atla the date of the tribe's restoration." A 

tribe can show this by two ways: "(I) [tlhe land is included in the tribe's first request for newly 

acquired lands since the tribe was restored to Federal recognition; or (2) [t]he tribe submitted an 

application to take the land into trust within 25 years &er the tribe was restored to Federal 

recognition and the tribe is not gaming on other lands." Here, the Tribe meets both (1) and (2). The 

Tribe's request to take the CIoverdale Parcels into trust is its first request for trust lands since the 

Tribe was restored to Federal recognition in 1984.~ The Cloverdale Tribe also qualifies under (2) 

because the request was made within twenty-five (25) years of the Tribe being restored to Federal 

recognition in 1984 and the Tribe is not gaming on other lands. Therefore, the Tribe can show a 

temporal connection and meets the requirements of subsection (c). 

Conclusion I 

I I 1 

If the Secretary takes the Cloverdale Parcels into trust, the Parcels are eligible for gaming 

pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 5 27 19(b)(l)(B)(iii). As discussed in a Memorandum dated Novemk 12, 

2008, the Tribe is a restored tribe and as detailed above the Department has determined that the 

Cloverdale Parcels meet the criteria set forth in 25 C.F.R. Part 292. The~fore, I have decided that 

if the Secretary takes the Cloverdale Parcels into trust, the Parcels will be taken into trust as part of 

the restoration of lands for the Cloverdale ~ribe.~ I 

Sincerely, 

I 

IIA -1 

rge T. Skibine 

1 Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary - 

I I- Policy and Economic Development 

\ 3 The Tribe's December 2005 request, which it subsequently withdrew, does not qualify as the Tribe's first request 

because the went did not make a decision on that request or actually take that land into husL 

1 consider my decision a final agency action that is reviewable under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).