Usfs

The San Francisco Peaks in the Coconi-no National Forest in northern Arizona have long-standing religious significance to numerous Indian tribes of the American

Southwest. The Arizona Snowbowl is a ski area on Humphrey’s Peak, the highest and most religiously significant of the San Francisco Peaks. After preparing an Environmental Impact Statement, the United States Forest Service approved a proposed expansion of the Snowbowl’s facilities. One component of the expansion would enable the Snowbowl to make artificial snow from recycled sewage effluent. Plaintiffs challenged the Forest Service’s approval of the expansion under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000bb et seq., the National Environmental Protection Act (“NEPA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321 et seq., and the National Historic Preservation Act (“NHPA”), 16 U.S.C. §§ 470 et seq.

After a bench trial, the district court held that the proposed expansion did not violate RFRA. Navajo Nation v. U.S. Forest Serv., 408 F.Supp.2d 866, 907 (D.Ariz.2006). At the same time, the district court granted summary judgment to the defendants on the plaintiffs’ NEPA and NHPA claims. Id. at 872-80 . This appeal followed as to…