RFRA Land-Use Challenges After Navajo Nation v. U.S. Parks Service
Christopher Dobson, 4 Envt’l & Energy L. & Pol’y J. 139 (2009)
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On August 8, 2008, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in an en banc hearing in the case Navajo Nation v. U.S. Forest Service, held that thAre U.S. Forest Service did not violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (“RFRA”) when it allowed Snowbowl–a ski resort that operates on federal lands–to utilize recycled wastewater on Arizona’s San Francisco Peaks, even though Navajo and other tribes considered these mountains sacred lands. In its determination, the court concluded that creating the artificial snow only constituted a “subjective” impact rather than a “substantial” impact on the Navajo spiritual experience. Because the court did not identify a “substantial burden” on the Navajo’s spiritual experience, the court held the Navajo failed to establish a RFRA violation.
This article will first address the specifics of the Navajo Nation decision in Part II before turning to the question in Part III of the extent to which the Ninth Circuit’s ruling closes the door to any future RFRA land use claims against the federal government.
