Washington's Muckleshoot Tribe Escapes Stop-Work Order for Amphitheater Story-Date: 09:43 a.m. PST Sunday , November 30, 1997 ------------------------------------------------------------ Washington's Muckleshoot Tribe Escapes Stop-Work Order for Amphitheater By Lucy Laird, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News SEATTLE, Wash.--Dec. 1--Wearing buttons which boldly claim their allegiances, opposing sides in the fight over the Muckleshoot Tribe's construction of a 20,000-seat amphitheater gathered in front of the 13-member King County Council on Nov. 17 to voice their opinions. In the end, the council could not muster enough votes to pass the emergency land-use restrictions that would halt construction. As an emergency, the council would have had to approve the measure by a super-majority, or nine out of 13 votes. Without the emergency clause attached to the proposal, the council would need only a simple majority of seven votes for it to pass. This would send the measure through the council's regular hearing process. Another vote was scheduled for Dec. 1, but the council may not be able to act on it until January. Proposed by Councilmember Kent Pullen, the measure would establish interim rural zoning on 1,200 acres of land between the towns of Auburn and Enumclaw, Wash., where the Muckleshoot Tribe has been constructing the White River Amphitheater. It would also require a county permit and corresponding environmental impact statement for any future development on the site surrounding the amphitheater. The ordinance did not include language that would halt the project, but implementation of the law could have resulted in stoppage. Although the Muckleshoot Tribe has agreed to cooperate with King County to find ways to avoid negative impacts on the amphitheater's surrounding neighborhood, a group of the tribe's opponents, the Citizens for Safety and the Environment, filed a federal lawsuit Nov. 12 against the tribe, amphitheater manager, construction contractor, the BIA and others. The lawsuit asks for an injunction to stop work pending the outcome of an environmental impact statement and a review of the BIA decision-making process which the group contends allowed the tribe to start the $10 million process without BIA oversight or an environmental impact statement. As elders and other tribal members looked on from the front row, Karen Allston, attorney for the Muckleshoot Tribe, presented legal arguments against King County's authority on land-use in private land on the reservation. "It would be ludicrous to suggest that the Muckleshoot Tribe would in any way jeopardize or harm those natural resources it relies on for the exercise of its federally-guaranteed treaty rights," said Ms. Allston, disputing allegations that the tribe has neglected the impact its theater would have on the environment. David Bricklin, the lawyer representing Citizens for Safety and the Environment, said the group would put its lawsuit on hold if the tribe decided to stop building voluntarily. Citing the weather sensitivity of the project, Muckleshoot Vice Chairwoman Virginia Cross, in a letter to Councilwoman Cynthia Sullivan, asserted the need to complete the project before the onset of winter. If the measure eventually passes, Ron Sims, the county executive, could veto it. He does not wish for a confrontation with the tribe. Residents of the rural area near the Muckleshoot amphitheater did want a confrontation, however, and approached the podium to express their vehement opposition. Cathy Thomasson, a dairy farmer who lives a quarter-mile from the site, said the disruption to her cows from noise and traffic would result in lower milk output and devastation to her business. The construction "takes away our heritage," she said in reference to the fact that her farm has been in her family for 100 years. Tribal members and their supporters constantly referred to Ms. Thomasson's assertion, countering that American Indians had been on the land for thousands of years when their land, livelihood and heritage were stolen from them. Other opponents of the amphitheater voiced their disgust with the poverty rate on reservations such as Pine Ridge, S.D., and accused the tribes of being greedy and not using casino funds to educate their children. These affronts were met with cries of indignation by tribal members. John Halliday, Muckleshoot tribal member and first-generation high school and college graduate, summed up the feelings of the tribe when he asked the council for a favorable decision: "We cannot afford to live in political and economic suspension." As the Muckleshoot Tribe quickens the pace of building and their opponents continue to face roadblocks, the likelihood of suspending anything grows dimmer. ----- Visit Indian Country Today on the World Wide Web at http://www.indiancountry.com/ ----- (c) 1997, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. ------------------------------------------------------------