The UAIC is known for their efforts to abide by state and local land-use laws, even though they are not obligated to do so under sovereignty law. The casino was opened in June 2003 and then expanded starting in March 2009 and finishing July 2010. Thunder Valley was designed by JMA Architecture Studios and built by the PENTA Building Group. This compact was later successfully renegotiated with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004. The United Auburn Indian Community entered into a tribal-state gaming compact with the State of California in September 1999 in order to conduct Class III gaming on trust land. As a way to lift themselves out of poverty, the members of the tribe decided to build a casino after Congress restored the tribe's federal status in 1994, allowing the tribe to acquire land under tribal sovereignty.

In the 1950s and '60s, the United States government terminated 41 California rancherias-mini-reservations, including that of the Miwok and Maidu Auburn band. Thunder Valley Casino Resort is owned by the United Auburn Indian Community, a Native American tribe consisting of mostly Miwuk and Maidu Indians indigenous to the Sacramento Valley region. The 275,000-square-foot (25,550 m²) facility offers a variety of gaming including slot machines, live poker and various other table games. It was operated by Station Casinos from 2003 to 2010. It is owned and operated by the United Auburn Indian Community and designed by architect Edward Vance of JMA Architecture Studios, located in Las Vegas, Nevada. Thunder Valley Casino Resort is a hotel and casino located in unincorporated Placer County in Whitney, California near the city of Lincoln, California, 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Sacramento.

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