Action Alert from Catskill Mountainkeeper

Catskill Mountainkeeper Action Alert August 26, 2009 We have a crisis on our hands that requires your immediate attention Dear Friends, WE NEED YOU TO TAKE ACTION NOW TO KEEP MULTIPLE MASSIVE OFF-RESERVATION CASINOS OUT OF THE CATSKILLS Join us in our campaign by contacting our elected officials and telling them to stop the Catskills casino scheme. Here is why. There are two major developments in the last week that have made the potential of large scale casino gambling in the Catskills much more of a reality. At the invitation of Congressman Maurice Hinchey, Larry EchoHawk, Assistant Secretary of the Interior met with opponents and supporters on "a listening tour." Mr. EchoHawk is the person who reviews Native American related applications for casinos on the federal level and makes the formal recommendations about whether they should be approved. During that meeting Catskill Mountainkeeper, Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and more than a dozen other organizations testified in opposition to casinos. Read about this breaking news story here The Malaysian company that financed the startup of Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Connecticut and the Seneca Niagara Casino in New York has entered into an investment agreement with Empire Resorts, owner of Monticello Gaming and Racing in Monticello under which the company will invest $55 million and the Seneca's are negotiating to buy the Concord from Developer Louis Cappelli. Right now there are at least 3 proposals to build gargantuan casinos in the Monticello area. They range from building on 333 acres along a mile stretch of the Neversink River to building an estimated 2,000,000 square foot casino complex in Bridgeville. At least 2 of the proposals estimate that they would each draw 6,000,000 visitors a year. These proposed developments if approved will totally transform our area and have a dramatically negative impact on the character of our region, our air quality and threaten our drinking water supply. The effect of adding hundreds of thousands of cars to our already crowded roadways would have adverse effects on our business and commerce. The casino scheme is massive and unprecedented A new "Casino City" with multiple casinos - 3,4,5 even 6 tribes and multiple independent sovereign nations, police forces and interests will be created. So where is the cumulative economic, environmental and social impact study for this? Where is the traffic study? Where is the impact study on crime, addiction, healthcare and emergency services for this new Casino City? The answer is that there is none. What these casinos will bring is pervasive and compelling environmental, social and economic problems. While they are promoted as helping the local economy by bringing people to the area, each casino will be a self-contained "city" that will have all of the services, food, and retail outlets that visitors would need. They will not bring new business to our existing infrastructure of restaurants, bars, service establishments and small mom and pop businesses as promised. Instead they will create new levels of competition and also bring problems like increased crime, prostitution, poverty, violence, chemical dependency and suicide that will seriously negatively impact everyone who lives in the area. We know these are strong statements. If you'd like more of the facts behind them please visit the Catskill Mountainkeeper website for an overview of the impact of bringing the proposed large-scale casinos into our area. The political and business interests advocating the creation of these multiple giant casinos are extremely well connected and financed. They are also moving very quickly with the intent of "closing the deal" before legitimate citizen opposition can be organized and mobilized or even appropriate impact studies can be done. That's why we need your help TODAY! Please join us by registering your vehement opposition to the potential creation of off-reservations casinos in Monticello and the Town of Thompson. There are 4 ways that you can help right now 1. Sign a petition to our elected officials urging them to join the fight to stop casinos in the Catskills: Just click here 2. Write a letter or make a phone call to our elected officials and tell them in your own words why you don't want casinos in the Catskills. Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther 18 Anawana Lake Road Monticello, NY 12701 845-794-5807 Congressman Maurice Hinchey City Hall, Third Floor 16 James St. Middletown, NY 10940 845-344-3211 Senator Kirsten Gillibrand 780 Third Avenue Suite 2601 New York, New York 10017 212-688-6262 Senator Charles Schumer One Park Place, Suite 100 Peekskill, NY 914-734-1532 3. Write a letter or make a phone call to the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Larry EchoHawk and tell him why you do not want casinos in the Catskills. Larry EchoHawk, Assistant Secretary, Indian Affairs Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20240 202-208-3710 4. Pass this email along to your friends and neighbors and ask them to express their opposition to legalized gambling in the Catskills. Use the FORWARD EMAIL function below Please help Catskill Mountainkeeper fight this important issue, we need your help more than ever. Make a donation today. TAKE ACTION TO STOP CASINOS IN THE CATSKILLS - SIGN THE PETITION NOW! About Catskill Mountainkeeper Catskill Mountainkeeper is a member based advocacy organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the long term health of the six counties of the Catskill Region. As a representative face of the Catskills, we strive to be the eyes, ears and voice that look at issues, listen to concerns and speak on behalf of people who live, work, and recreate here. Recognizing strength in numbers, we organize concerned citizens to protect existing jobs and industry, take care of abundant but exceedingly vulnerable natural resources, and help to utilize available and often unclaimed local, state, and national funds to prevent and cushion the impact of natural disasters Catskill Mountainkeeper Ramsay Adams Executive Director Catskill Mountainkeeper Wes Gillingham Program Director