David Barnett sits in the posh office of his lawyer, on the 44th floor of Two Union Square in downtown Seattle. He's dressed casually in a black T-shirt and jeans, his graying temples softening his imposing physical presence.

The 46-year-old Barnett, who made his fortune in real estate, has been described by some as smooth talking and friendly, by others as combative and insulting. But today he's all business as he talks about a battle he's waging 150 miles to the south. The only time Barnett smiles is when he's asked if he's a patient man. "I've learned to be," he says, a coy grin spreading across his face.

He earned his patience the hard way. Barnett is a central figure in a battle that's been waging in southwestern Washington for eight years, pitting the 3,280-member Cowlitz Tribe, of which his father, John Barnett, is chairman, and an allied tribe from Connecticut against an array of local opponents that includes another tribe, a publisher and lucrative nearby card rooms.

Although neither father nor son has ever lived in southwestern Washington, David Barnett and his business partners, the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, have acquired 152 acres two miles west of La Center. They are now trying to get the land, where Barnett's ancestors once lived, officially recognized as Cowlitz Indian reservation land. They want that status in order to build a large casino on the property that would attract gamblers from Portland, potentially earning as much as $415 million a year and creating some 3,200 jobs.

Barnett is pursuing a controversial tactic, which his opponents call "reservation shopping." However, the Columbian newspaper in Vancouver reported in late March that the administrative draft of a final environmental impact statement dismisses most concerns raised by Barnett's opponents. The administrative draft has not been released by the federal government. The U.S. Interior Department is expected to rule formally early next year on whether his land can be put into a trust for the tribe, the first step forward for the new casino.

"[The tribe] desperately needs a project like this," Barnett says. "We are at an extreme disadvantage because we have no land." Neither Barnett's father, the tribal chairman, nor the Cowlitz Tribe itself is financially involved in the project.

Indian gaming has become a hot-button issue in many areas where casino projects have been proposed. Today, 20 tribes operate 24 casinos in Washington. Few could have predicted the size of the industry when Congress passed the Indian Gaming Act in 1988, and tribes saw a path to quick riches. But soon, casinos were opening on reservations throughout the country. Places such as Pendleton, Ore., and Tulalip, Wash., became destinations for gamblers willing to drive an hour or two to place their bets. Many stay in the motels and eat in the restaurants tribes built to accompany their casinos.

A river of money has flowed into these casinos. The state estimates that gaming brought in $1.2 billion last year. Nearly 400 tribal gaming operations scattered across 28 states now bring in $22.6 billion in revenue a year, which amounts to about 27 percent of all gambling revenues nationwide, according to the National Indian Gaming Commission.

Of the state's 29 tribes, 27 have gaming compacts. (The Spokane Tribe recently reached a tentative deal with federal and state regulators after years of operating casinos without a compact.)

It's easy to see the appeal of the expansive green pastureland owned by Barnett and the Mohegan Tribe, his business partners from the east. On the outskirts of La Center, the land sits a quick turn off exit 16 of Interstate 5. Visitors - potentially thousands of them - could arrive at the casino from the freeway in a few minutes.