POLSON - Peter Fordham stood inside a conference hall at the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes' KwaTaqNuk Resort and talked about the room's renovation into a bingo hall that recently hosted its first public bingo games.

"There's a demand for it," said Fordham, the CSKT's principal casino manager. "This market has definitely shown it's a bingo market."

Salish and Kootenai leaders pulled Fordham from the California Indian gaming industry two months ago and hired him to spearhead their foray into Class II gambling a fallback after the tribes failed to strike a deal with the state of Montana on Class III, or Las Vegas-style, gaming last November.

Last weekend, the tribes celebrated the grand opening of Gray Wolf Peak Casino, 10 minutes north of Missoula. Then came the first tribal bingo games in Polson, farther north on the shores of Flathead Lake, last Wednesday night.

As Class II casinos, Gray Wolf and KwaTaqNuk give players a chance to compete in high-tech, cross-country bingo games where jackpots can reach millions of dollars.

Class II gaming includes traditional, computer, pull tab, instant and other forms of bingo. It does not, however, allow slot, keno or poker machines, blackjack, roulette or other such types of gambling.

The Salish and Kootenai tribes' conversion to Class II gaming highlights the inequalities created by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 when it comes to the use of gambling as a tool for economic empowerment.

Tribes across the country have transformed once-depressed reservation economies into economic gold mines since the gaming act became law. Indian gaming revenue has exploded from $206 million in 1988 to $25.5 billion in 2006, according to an industry report released recently by Analysis Group, a national economic consulting firm.

The revenue figures include 228 tribes operating 423 casinos in 28 states.

The Analysis Group report shows California tribes account for $7.7 billion in gambling revenue in Indian Country, making small tribes there among the wealthiest in the nation and placing them at the top of the Indian gaming revenue scale.

Montana tribes are at the bottom, with total earnings of $15.4 million in 2006.

The vast difference in income has less to do with demographics and location than with a tribe's ability to meet market demand. The Blackfeet Nation and the Salish and Kootenai are both located along routes to one of the nation's busiest national parks. The Blackfeet Reservation borders Glacier National Park, which has some 2 million visitors each year.

Meanwhile, the Blackfeet economy languishes and per-capita income amounts to no more than $10,000 a year. Like the Salish and Kootenai, the Blackfeet's Class III options have been limited by the state of Montana, and tribal leaders have turned their attention to Class II games, which don't have to be negotiated with the state.

Under the 1988 law, a tribe and a state must have a negotiated compact before Class III gambling is allowed on a reservation, and that compact can limit the types and amount of gaming. Tribes can offer Class II gaming bingo without a state's approval.

Tribal gambling operations, then, are typically defined by who sits at the negotiating table for tribal-state gaming compacts.

"The federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act puts the responsibility for negotiating compacts with the governor's office," said Gene Huntington, administrator of Montana's state gaming department. "The Gambling Control Division has always been a part of the negotiating team to advise the governor's office."

Montana tribes are at odds with the state, which allows any business with a liquor license to operate Class III machines, including keno and video poker. The state currently permits 18,000 Class III machines to non-Indian business owners, mostly at gas stations and restaurants. Town Pump Corp. alone owns as many as 1,840 Class III machines in 92 locations, said Huntington.

On the other hand, there are as few as 1,300 Class III machines on all of Montana's seven large, land-based reservations. Tribes in neighboring states such as Idaho own some 4,000 machines. North Dakota tribes operate 3,400 Class III machines.

The Northern Cheyenne tribe's most recent compact with the state of Montana limits it to no more than 400 machines, and no more than 300 in any single location.

Last November, all Class III machines on the Flathead Reservation (including those operated by non-Indian businesses) were disconnected after the tribes reached an impasse with the state on the renewal of their gambling compact.

In doing so, the tribes opted for a $2 million loss to the tribal operating budget from Class III revenue.

Today, the Salish and Kootenai are placing all bets on Class II gaming.

"For about 10 years, the tribal council has been struggling with the existing gaming compacts and the way they were structured," said Rob McDonald, CSKT spokesman. "And we were seeing a growth of non-tribal gaming really starting to harm the tribe's economic development tool of gaming."

"Years ago, we gave up some jurisdiction to the state, and we returned and were asking for that back," he said. "We came to a crossroads with the state on that, and decided if we wanted to go that route we had to go to Class II gaming. We're the sole control gaming entity on this reservation now."

(Reach reporter Jodi Rave at 800-366-7186 or at jodi.rave@;lee.net.)