Scotts Valley tribe seeks dismissal of rival lawsuits after DOI flags possible error

The Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians has filed motions in three federal cases seeking to dismiss lawsuits brought by rival tribes challenging its proposed casino project in Vallejo, a step taken just a day after the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) acknowledged its original approval of the project may have been based on “legal error.”

The filings, submitted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, target lawsuits in Lytton Rancheria of California v. U.S. Department of the Interior, United Auburn Indian Community v. U.S. Department of the Interior and Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation v. U.S. Department of the Interior. Each complaint seeks to overturn the DOI’s Jan. 10 decision placing 160 acres of Vallejo land into trust for Scotts Valley and confirming the tribe’s eligibility to conduct gaming there.

Scotts Valley argues the cases cannot proceed without the tribe as a party, yet tribal sovereign immunity prevents its involuntary participation, a combination the tribe says requires dismissal under binding Supreme Court precedent. The tribe has intervened only to seek dismissal under federal civil procedure rules.The tribe’s casino plan calls for a $700 million, 24-hour gaming facility on a 160-acre site near Interstates 80 and 37 in Solano County. The broader project includes 24 single-family homes, a tribal administration building, a parking garage and a 45-acre biological preserve.

The legal fight escalated after Judge Trevor McFadden in October rejected Scotts Valley’s attempt to halt the DOI’s reconsideration of the project. On Wednesday, the DOI said its earlier approval may have been issued in error and warned the tribe that it “would be ill-served” to rely on the prior gaming determination while the review continues. The agency said evidence submitted through June 13, 2025, raises questions about Scotts Valley’s historical and temporal connection to the site.

“These lawsuits attempt to derail the Tribe’s long-awaited opportunity for economic self-sufficiency,” Scotts Valley Chairman Shawn Davis said in a statement. “Scotts Valley will vigorously defend its rights, its future, and its sovereignty. We won’t be bullied by competitors who put their profits over what’s right.”

Davis said the tribe is committed to a project that will “uplift our Tribal members and the entire Vallejo community,” adding, “Scotts Valley has waited generations for the chance to rebuild what federal policies took away.”

Patrick R. Bergin, counsel for the tribe, said the trust land is central to its governmental functions and economic development. “This is a significant moment. Scotts Valley is taking the strongest step available to a sovereign Indian tribe to protect its land and its future,” he said.

Rival tribes, including operators of Cash Creek Casino, San Pablo Lytton Casino and Thunder Valley Casino Resort, have long opposed the project. Yocha Dehe Chairman Anthony Roberts said the lawsuits are “Scotts Valley’s latest attempt to distract from the truth,” insisting the tribe’s filings are meritless. He said evidence will show “Scotts Valley has no claim to our Patwin homelands in Vallejo.”

Roberts also rejected historical claims involving a 19th-century Pomo leader, saying, “Let me be clear. Augustine never lived in Vallejo and never used or occupied lands here. He had no ties to this land and the surrounding counties. Scotts Valley’s claims about Augustine are simply false.”

Opposition to the project has also come from Solano County, the State of California and local Patwin tribes, whose submissions to the DOI prompted the agency in March to reconsider its initial approval.

In his October ruling, McFadden emphasized that the DOI must give Scotts Valley due process before permanently revoking its eligibility but underscored the agency’s authority to continue its review. “The Court’s remedy does not bar Interior from continuing its reconsideration, nor does it stop the Department from revoking the Band’s gaming eligibility at the end of that process,” he wrote.