Apache Survival Coalition v. United States

Opinion by Judge D.W. NELSON

This is the fourth time in three years that this court has considered - challenges to the Mount Graham international astrophysieal observatory project. 1 In this case, the Apache Survival Coalition (“Coalition”), a nonprofit corporation created under the laws of the State of Arizona in'May 1990, seeks to halt construction of several telescopes on Mount Graham, Arizona, basing its challenge on constitutional and statutory grounds. Concluding that the Coalition’s constitutional arguments are without merit and that its statutory claim is barred by laches, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

Factual and Procedural Background

Much of the history concerning the dispute over the Mount Graham observatory project and the subsequent congressional intervention is set out in this court’s prior opinion in Mt. Graham Red Squirrel v. Madigan (Red Squirrel II), 954 F.2d 1441, 1443-48 (9th Cir.1992). We recount only those events relevant to the Coalition’s claims.

In 1984, an international consortium proposed the construction of an observatory complex on Mount Graham that would include “construction of the most sophisticated array of telescopes ever…