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San Francisco Peaks Sacred Site Litigation

In March 2005, Arizona Snowbowl ski resort, located in the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, Arizona, received US Forest Service approval to construct improvements, including installation of a device that uses recycled sewage effluent to make snow. Because the San Francisco Peaks are considered sacred by several southwestern tribes, many of these tribes took legal action including the filing of a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop construction of the improvements. In January 2006, the U.S. District Court of Arizona ruled in favor of Arizona Snowbowl.

However, on March 12, 2007, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the tribes who opposed the development of the resort. The Court ruled that the Forest Service's approval of Arizona Snowbowl's use of recycled sewage effluent to make snow violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The Court also ruled that, in one instance, the final environmental impact statement prepared in the case did not comply with the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA).

San Francisco Peaks Sacred Site Litigation Documents:

Ninth Circuit Court Decision [PDF]

District Court Decision [PDF]

Appellants' Opening Brief for Navajo Nation, et al. v. U.S. Forest Service, et al.

Appellants' Reply Brief for Navajo Nation, et al. v. U.S. Forest Service, et al.

Related Case Law and Statutes:

Wilson v. Block, 708 F.2d 735 (D.C. Cir. 1983)
Hopi Tribe and Navajo Nation attempted to block expansion of the Arizona Snowbowl in 1983.

Employment Division v. Smith, 110 S. Ct. 1595 (1990)
The Court struck down the "compelling interest and least restrictive means" test in religious free exercise case involving the sacramental use of peyote by members of the Native American Church.

Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal, 126 S. Ct. 1211 (2006) [PDF]
The Court held that under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act the federal government had a burden to demonstrate a compelling interest in barring a sect's sacramental use of a hallucinogenic tea and the government failed to meet this burden.

Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Assn., 108 S. Ct. 1319 (1988)
The Court found that that the free exercise clause of First Amendment did not forbid timber cutting or the construction of a road through portions of national forest traditionally used for religious purposes by tribal members.

American Indian Religious Freedom Act

American Indian Religious Freedom Act Amendments of 1994 [PDF]

Religious Freedom Restoration Act

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