Yellow Snow on Sacred Sites: A Failed Application of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act
Joshua A. Edwards, 34 Am. Indian L. Rev. 151 (2010)
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The holy lands that are dear to these tribes are owned by the federal government, which has approved a proposal to expand a ski resort known as the Snowbowl. The proposal is focused on pumping 1.5 million gallons of sewage effluent per day from the nearby city of Flagstaff, Arizona to the Peaks in order to manufacture artificial snow for the Snowbowl. The purpose of the plan is to improve the economic viability of the ski resort, which has suffered diminished profits from decreased annual snowfall. Attempting to halt the plan, the tribes initiated suit against the U.S. Forest Service on a variety of claims. This note will focus on their claim under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA). … The Ninth Circuit’s interpretation of RFRA in Navajo Nation is too narrow to fulfill Congress’s intent of expanding First Amendment protection. The court interpreted ‘substantial burden’ to fit only the facts of previous Supreme Court cases in lieu of independently determining whether the use of sewage effluent on the Snowbowl places a substantial burden on the tribes’ exercise of religion. This has the effect of completely undermining the congressional intent of RFRA, which was to expand the protection proffered to religious expression.
