Mark Macarro: LIAR! Pechanga's Golf Course on Land Macarro Told Congress Was Culturally Significant.

One of the meeting we had in Washington DC led to a discussion of the fact that land that Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro told Congress was culturally significant and need to be protected was now...A GOLF COURSE.   We've written about it before, but wanted to get it out front again, since Interior and The Department of Justice has been checking the site so frequently.

It's important because Pechanga is currently trying to steal water rights from allottees of the reservation and are lying ...again... to Congress.  We'd like to get a previous lie out front.

Below is a story about the Journey, a golf course built by the Pechanga Band on lands previously determined to be culturally significant. The golf course was cut through the Great Oak Ranch and adjacent property referenced in Chairman Macarro’s testimony to the House Resources Committee from April 17, 2002 regarding the Great Oak Ranch and the need to protect the resources they are on: 

Click here for TESTIMONY

Here is a preview of some of the most relevant testimony regarding the Great Oak Ranch and the invaluable resources that Tribe said it needed assistance in protecting from development.

“We believe the resources found on the Great Oak Ranch should be 

preserved and remain within the Ranch. The sole purpose of the 

acquisition is the preservation and the protection of Luiseno people’s 

natural and cultural resources. The Pechanga Band is committed to 

protecting and preserving the invaluable and irreplaceable cultural 

resources of the Pechanga and Luiseno people. The cultural resources 

located within the Great Oak Ranch provide the Pechanga Band with the 

unique opportunity to protect and preserve such resources on property 

owned by the Tribe itself.

Once the Great Oak Ranch property is accepted into trust by the United States, it will become part of the Pechanga Reservation. TheTribe will exercise powers of self-government, including civil regulatory jurisdiction, to protect the unique archaeological,biological and cultural resources, as well as the historic and sacred  sites on the Great Oak Ranch.

Mr. Hayworth: “Chairman Macarro, does the Pechanga Tribe have any plans for development of any kind on the Great Oak Ranch property?”

Mr. Macarro: “No, we don’t. As stated in our application to Interior/BIA, we stated or have designated there is no change of use in the property, and the intended use and purpose is to preserve and protect the resources that are there. The cultural resources in particular are also very significant. Along the base of all the foothills there are
significant old village sites, dark midden soil area, cremation areas and associated sacred sites.”

Mr. Hayworth: “… Just one follow-up, and for purposes of the record, Mr.Chairman, does the tribe plan to use the Great Oak Ranch for gaming purposes or any purposes other than what you have just outlined?”

Mr. Macarro. “No, the tribe does not.”

Needless to say, the development of the golf course and other projects on land that was supposed to be free from impacts in no way reflects the “no change in use” testified to by Mr. Macarro. While the transfer of the Ranch property protected it from the proposed power line project, the transfer did not protect the Ranch or its resources from tribal development projects, including the golf course. 

“The transfer of the Great Oak Ranch and eventual development of the property is tragic,” stated John Gomez, Jr.* “If the golf course project, or any other development, had been proposed on private property as culturally rich and significant as this, you better believe that tribal officials would have taken every action, whether it be lawsuits or acts of Congress, to stop it. Unfortunately, the duty to protect and preserve does not apply to tribal projects that may add to the bottom line.” 

In addition to the impacts development has had on the cultural and archaeological resources on the Great Oak Ranch and the surrounding area, it appears that the tribal officials’ double-talk was reason enough for the City of Temecula and others to raise serious concerns regarding a recent bill sponsored by Congressman Issa to transfer additional lands to the United States government for the Pechanga Band.

The bill, HR 2963, which was passed in September, transferred land in Riverside and San Diego Counties for “the protection, preservation, and maintenance of the archaeological, cultural, and wildlife resources thereon”. Based on their experience with the Great Oak Ranch transfer, the City of Temecula and local residents sought and received language in HR 2963 that would restrict development. However, only time will tell if the bill language is enough to protect the invaluable cultural and archaeological resources from the development plans of tribal officials. 

In response, Pechanga's General Counsel John Macarro, wrote, "Once the land is placed in trust, a tribe has complete zoning and planning authority over it and can change land uses just as a county or city can change or update its general plan or zoning designations." Meaning: Just because we said we wanted to maintain cultural sites and don't propose development if you just give us the land free, doesn't mean we can't put a golf course there.

Memorable layout offers scenery and history
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
November 18, 2008

TOD LEONARD / Union-Tribune
You’ll want to avoid the boulder-strewn brook on this hole at Journey at Pechanga.
TEMECULA – Southern California’s newest golf course is called Journey at Pechanga and its slogan is “10,000 years in the making.”

If that sounds a little gimmicky, like a freeway billboard for the opening of a new ride at Knott’s Berry Farm, give us a minute to put it into perspective.

One hundred and 33 years ago, the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians made the most significant journey in the 10,000 years they had lived in the Temecula Valley. Ranchers convinced a San Francisco District Court to evict them from their ancestral land, and a posse led by a San Diego sheriff forced the tribe into a small plot in the hills south of Temecula.

Seven years later, in 1882, despite objections from the California Legislature, President Chester A. Arthur gave the tribe back a small piece of its sovereignty when he issued an executive order setting aside 4,000 acres to create the Pechanga Indian Reservation.

It was a tiny slice of the vast area they once roamed, but it was, importantly, theirs.

So, understand, that this rather grand name, Journey at Pechanga, has a purpose. The tribe wants this to be more than a round of golf. This is about history, too.

“Everything we did was dictated by the culture of the tribe. It was important to respect that,” the course’s primary architect, Steve Forrest, said last week when Journey celebrated its grand opening.

Forrest likes to say that some of his most difficult challenges as an architect can produce the most satisfying results, and in the Journey he had one-of-a-kind issues he countered with wildly creative solutions. The result for golfers is one of the more memorable layouts in all of Southern California.

Be it working your ball around 900-year-old oak trees in the middle of the fairway, or counting the seconds of your drive’s free fall from a 200-foot cliff, the Journey is a unique experience shaped by the will of a people.

“It’s certainly one of the most exciting and dramatic pieces of land we’ve ever had,” said Forrest, who worked with partner Arthur Hills on the project for the past five years.

The challenges were many, including convincing the tribe to even build a golf course. For reasons cultural and economic, there was considerable resistance from some members.

“I was privileged enough to sit in on the vote,” Forrest said. “The whole tribe came in, and it was a very democratic process. Everybody went up to the front of the room to vote. The results were flashed up on a board immediately. And it wasn’t a sweeping majority who approved it, believe me.”

  The tribe’s restrictions did force Forrest into some odd circumstances. An oak in the middle of the ninth fairway couldn’t be moved, and it presents a rather large hazard in the heart of the driving zone. The par-5 11th – 463 yards from the whites – is a severe and narrow dogleg right around Pechanga Creek that all but demands three iron shots.

Evidence of Pechanga’s heritage is there at nearly every turn. To the right of the fifth green is a protected area with a crumbling adobe ruin. “Kiicha” huts, constructed by children in the tribe as a cultural education, punctuate the course’s landscape. Several elaborate, railroad-style wooden bridges provide an Old West ambience.