The Interior Department is steamrolling community objections and its own established process to fast-track approval of the proposed Shiloh Resort and Casino in our community of Windsor, California.

 

The project would imperil the lives of local residents by cramming more traffic onto an already-congested wildfire evacuation route. This would add hours to escape times during emergencies in which life-or-death outcomes are measured in minutes.

 

Sonoma County, which includes the town, has experienced 29 wildfires since 2008, including the 2019 Kincade Fire, the largest in the county’s history. That disaster torched 78,000 acres, an area more than double the size of San Francisco. The latest wildfire tore through the area in mid-September. Drier, hotter conditions brought on by climate change are only making fires more frequent and intense.

 

A broad array of stakeholders, from the community and our local leaders to Gov. Gavin Newsom and a majority of California’s congressional delegation, are loudly opposed to this effort. You can read the mounting letters of opposition here.

 

Nevertheless, our community of Windsor strongly fears that Washington bureaucrats will turn a deaf ear to our outcry. Please join us in urging the Department of Interior and Secretary Deb Haaland to put people over profits and stop the Shiloh project before our lives, livelihoods, and shared environment are put at risk.