Tribe’s Amphitheater Plan To Be Reviewed

Sat., Jan. 24, 1998

From Staff And Wire Reports

Federal authorities say the Muckleshoot Tribe will have to go through a public review process as part of the tribe’s planned 20,000-seat outdoor theater project.

The decision Thursday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was a victory for opponents who have tried for nearly a year to stop progress on the amphitheater.

The tribe had applied to the Corps for a permit to retain fill in wetlands. The Corps issues such permits without going through a public process if it believes the impact would be minimal. In this case, the Corps decided the impact would be more serious, making a full public review necessary.

Tribal leaders maintained that their sovereign immunity allowed them to construct the facility on lands that were deemed theirs under treaties with the U.S. government.

Last year, the King County Council rejected a proposed ordinance that sought to impose county authority to regulate the amphitheater.

The theater is on the tribe’s reservation but on land that had, until recently, been owned by people who did not belong to the tribe.

Rep. Jennifer Dunn, R-Wash., was among those who had asked that the federal government order a federal environmental review of the amphitheater construction.

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