In the ongoing chess match over the future of Camp 4, the 1,400 acres of Santa Ynez Valley land that the Chumash tribe hopes to annex into their reservation, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors made their latest move last week, when they sent their official letter to Gov. Jerry Brown asking him to voice opposition to the proposal. The letter references the earlier move by the Chumash to ask Congress to approve the annexation, which could be much quicker than the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ traditional fee-to-trust process. The supervisors argue that the annexation would take it off the tax rolls and beyond the control of land use regulations, but that they “continue to meet with the Tribe in regards to developing Camp 4 to meet the housing needs of the Tribe’s members through the process available to all property owners in Santa Barbara County.”
