WARM SPRINGS, Ore. -- A hearing at the current casino of the Warm Spring tribe drew mostly supporters of plans for a new tribal casino at Cascade Locks in the Columbia Gorge 40 miles east of Portland.

In all, about 40 individuals testified Monday on the $389 million proposal by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.

Gerald Smith, tribal chief operations officer, said hard times in the timber industry have hurt the tribal budget and helped to drive the unemployment rate above 28 percent.

Among the arguments against the casino is that it is too far from the tribal population center at Warm Springs, a daily commute of more than 200 miles, to provide jobs for most tribal members.

Warm Springs members said tribes in the region were semi-nomadic, moving long distances with the seasons to fish at Celilo and Shearer's falls, to pick berries in the mountains and to dig roots near Prineville and Shankio.

"Today, our children spend several hours a day commuting to the 509-J School Distinct in Madras each school day of the year, traveling as much as 100 miles or more a day," said Leona Ike. "Many of our children travel out of state to attend BIA boarding schools in South Dakota, Oklahoma, Arizona and Kansas."

The Interior Department generally has been reluctant to permit off-reservation casinos but has allowed applications for a few, including that of the Warm Springs confederation, to go forward.

A handful testified against the casino. Mary Repar of Stevenson, Wash., treasurer of the No Casino Committee, compared the Gorge to a beautiful woman.

"A pretty woman attracts a lot of lovers who make midnight promises," she said. "They say they will respect her in the morning. But Mother Earth is saying no."

Speaking for himself, spokesman Philip Harju of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, which plans a casino in southwest Washington, supported the Warm Springs proposal.

"We want the BIA to understand that there were mills all up and down the gorge, with wigwam burners going 24 hours a day," Harju said. "The mills dumped a lot of stuff in the river. So if the Friends of the Gorge, or whatever front group they're using, claims the Warm Springs are going to hurt the gorge, what a crock."

The hearings are on a draft environmental impact statement done by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs that concluded the Cascade Locks site was a better choice than alternate sites in Hood River, where the tribe owns land, and on the Warm Springs Reservation.

Four more evening hearings are scheduled: Monday at Cascade Locks. March 12 at Stevenson, March 13 at Portland and March 17 at Hood River.