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Gov. John Kitzhaber does not want to see more tribal casinos in Oregon, according to his spokeswoman, Amy Wojcicki.

No exceptions.

Well, there might be one exception. Leaders of the Coquille Indian Tribe in Southern Oregon last year bought a Medford bowling alley where they now want to operate some 500 video bingo machines.

“This is a first-of-its-kind application,” Wojcicki said.

The 2.42-acre property is not on tribal land, but it could be soon.

The federal government turned its back on the Coquille people in 1954, formally refusing to acknowledge their existence as a tribe. When the tribe regained federal recognition in 1989, part of its agreement with the federal government was that any land in a five-county area that the tribe bought and held in trust automatically became sovereign tribal land.

Other tribes in Oregon do not have similar agreements, meaning the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians’ Chinook Winds Casino and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde’s Spirit Mountain Casino had to be built on existing tribal land.

Wojcicki said this makes the Coquille situation — and the governor’s response to it — more complex.

“This is the first such application we have seen in Oregon, and we need additional time to give careful consideration to the application and its ramifications,” Liani J. Reeves, Kitzhaber’s general counsel, wrote to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Stan Speaks, the bureau’s acting Northwest regional director, granted the governor 60 additional days starting on March 6.

Of course, the tribe doesn’t need Kitzhaber’s blessing, said Ray Doering, director of corporate communications for Coquille Economic Development Corp. The rules – and good manners – dictate that tribal leaders accept input from local, county and state officials, he said.

However, Doering added, it is almost entirely a federal process and decision.

Tribal members own and operate the Mill Casino Hotel and RV Park in North Bend. Doering said the operation, at its existing size, doesn’t generate enough money to support the tribe.

“The tribe’s population is expected to double in next 30 years,” he said. “Revenues have reached a certain … plateau.”

That’s why tribal leaders want to open Oregon’s first Class 2 tribal casino, Doering said. Class 3 casinos are basically Las Vegas-style casinos like the tribal casinos in Lincoln City and Grand Ronde.

“Class 2, for all intents and purposes, is bingo,” Doering said. “And when we say bingo, we mean electronic bingo – which is something the tribes have done for a long, long time.”

Being able to annex land in the five-county area only makes sense, he said.

“It goes back to being able to restore lost tribal lands,” he added.

There are many hoops to jump through before the tribe can open its new casino, Doeing said. “The largest hoop is putting land into the trust,” he said.

Various environmental impact statements will be conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Meanwhile, city, county and state officials can have their say.

“We’re in that comment period right now,” Doering said.

He added that tribal members are working with officials to work out a services agreement.

“We have something in place,” he added. “We want to make sure we pay our fair share.”

The building formerly housed the Roxy Ann Lanes in south Medford. Most of the work will involve remodeling, Doering said, adding that it’s hard to predict a dollar figure for the project at this point.

“We pretty much want to keep the footprint of the building.”

Doering said tribal leaders hope to have the operation going by 2014.

“The trust process is hard to predict,” he said. “It’s a federal process. That says a lot.”