Apache Survival Coalition v. United States

Appellant Apache Survival Coalition (“the Coalition”) appeals the district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction against further construction of the Mount Graham International observatory (“the Observatory”), a system of seven telescopes atop Mt. Graham in southeastern Arizona. The Coalition argues that the U.S. Forest Service failed to comply with the National Historic Preservation Act, 16 U.S.C. § 470 et seq. (“NHPA”). We affirm the dismissal of the request for preliminary injunctive relief.

I. Background

This case is the latest in a series of challenges to the Observatory project. See Mt. Graham Red Squirrel v. Yeutter, 930 F.2d 703 (9th Cir.1991) (“Red Squirrel I”); Mt. Graham Red Squirrel v. Madigan, 954 F.2d 1441 (9th Cir.1992) (“Red Squirrel II”); Mt. Graham Red Squirrel v. Espy, 986 F.2d 1568 (9th Cir.1993) (“Red Squirrel III”); Apache Survival Coalition v. United States, 21 F.3d 895 (9th Cir.1994) (“Apache Survival I”) 1 ; Mount Graham Coalition v. Thomas, 53 F.3d 970 (9th Cir.1995) (“Mt. Graham I”); Mt. Graham Coalition v. Thomas, 89 F.3d 554 (9th Cir.1996) (“Mt. Graham II”). In Apache Survival I, the Coalition, an organization formed by members of the San Carlos…