But the decision last month in a lawsuit over a voluntary ban on rock-climbing during American Indian observances at Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming is being appealed. At New Mexico's Bandelier National Monument, park rangers refuse to disclose the location of a prehistoric shrine, considered sacred to Pueblo tribal members. Near Santa Fe, the Forest Service in 1996 overturned a decision to build a new ski resort because the mountain was holy ground for some tribes. Several years earlier, the agency had rejected plans for a tourist development at Medicine Wheel in northern Wyoming in response to tribal concerns. On Utah's remote southeastern fringe, there has been only spotty opposition to signs at Rainbow Bridge National Monument asking visitors to respect American Indian beliefs and not walk under the sweeping sandstone arc.
Tribes feel that people climbing the Tower during the holy month is sacrilegious.
To reach the conclusion that the Park Service was merely accommodating and not promoting religious beliefs of tribes who consider Devils Tower a sacred spot, Downes relied on a federal court case involving a Jewish choir member at Salt Lake City's West High School. Rachel Bauchman unsuccessfully sued the school in 1995, claiming the inclusion of Christian songs in the choir's repertoire and arranging concerts in churches violated her right to freedom from religious coercion. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in December upheld an earlier dismissal of the case, noting that the choir sang secular as well as religious songs and that it performed in religious and nonreligious settings. Less than a week after the April 2 ruling, Pendley served notice that his clients would appeal Downes' ruling, giving the 10th Circuit another chance at weighing in on the issue of religious accommodation vs. coercion. At Devils Tower and other Park Service areas containing American Indian sacred sites, managers say they will continue telling all sides of a shared history.