Opinion ID: 3065269
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: FLPMA Claims

Text: The primary claims that the Tribes presented in the district court related to the exercise of their religion. The Tribes claimed in the main that the project would violate RFRA because it would create a substantial burden to the exercise of their religion. RFRA prohibits governmental entities from SOUTH FORK BAND v. DOI 15831 imposing substantial burdens on the exercise of religion, even if such burdens arise from a rule of general applicability, unless the government can demonstrate that the rule is both in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest and the least restrictive means of furthering that interest. 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb-1(a)-(b). Although the district court agreed with the Tribes that they had standing to bring the RFRA claim and that RFRA applies to the use and management of the government’s own land, see South Fork Band, 2009 WL 249711, at -12, the court denied the RFRA claims on the merits, concluding that the Tribes had not shown there was a likelihood of success of establishing a substantial burden on the exercise of the Tribes’ religion, id. at -14. The court stressed that the Tribes would continue to have access to the areas that were identified during consultation with the Tribes as having the most religious significance. The Tribes have not appealed the denial of preliminary injunctive relief on the RFRA claims. [1] The Tribes do appeal the denial of injunctive relief on a FLPMA claim that is substantially the same as the RFRA claim, but is cast in procedural rather than substantive terms. See Norton v. S. Utah Wilderness Alliance, 542 U.S. 55, 66 (2004); Gros Ventre Tribe v. United States, 469 F.3d 801, 814 (9th Cir. 2006) (“The FLPMA is primarily procedural in nature, and it does not provide a private right of action.”). FLPMA creates a duty on the part of agencies like BLM to take action to prevent “unnecessary and undue degradation of the lands.” 43 U.S.C. § 1732(b). For the purposes of this case, “unnecessary or undue degradation” is defined as any harmful activity that is either not “reasonably incident” to an approved mining operation or that violates a state or federal law relating to environmental or cultural resource protection. 43 C.F.R. § 3809.5. [2] To support the FLPMA claim, the Tribes rely heavily upon Executive Order No. 13007 (“EO 13007”), which imposes an obligation on the Executive Branch to accommo15832 SOUTH FORK BAND v. DOI date Tribal access and ceremonial use of sacred sites and to avoid physical damage to them. See 61 Fed. Reg. 26771 (May 24, 1996). The district court expressly recognized that BLM was required to comply with the Executive Order. South Fork Band, 2009 WL 249711, at  n.9. After reviewing the extensive study that the agency had made of the sacred sites and their uses, however, the court concluded that the Tribes failed to show BLM’s conduct of the study was arbitrary, or that BLM violated any duty under EO 13007 when it found the project would neither harm areas identified during the study as sacred, nor materially affect access to those areas. Id. In this appeal from the denial of injunctive relief, the Tribes do not question the sufficiency of BLM’s consultation with its tribal consultants or the adequacy of BLM’s study of the potential effects of the project on the Tribes’ religious uses and practices. The Tribes contend that, on the basis of its consultation and study, the BLM arbitrarily focused on the specific sites identified during the study. According to the Tribes, the BLM should have treated the entire mountain as sacred to the Tribes. It is true that the extensive record of consultation with the Tribes contains references to the entire mountain as being a sacred site. There are, however, many more specific references to the particular sites on the mountain that are used for religious observance. These significant sites include the top of the mountain, the White Cliffs immediately below the top of the mountain, the Pediment area of piñon-juniper groves on the slope of the mountain, the Shoshone Wells, and the Horse Canyon. [3] In the EIS, BLM concluded that access to and use of those more discrete sites for cultural and religious observance would not be impeded by the project as approved, and the Tribes do not dispute that conclusion. The Tribes also do not articulate the manner in which they seek agency accommodation for the entire mountain. EO 13007 refers to protecting the SOUTH FORK BAND v. DOI 15833 ceremonial uses of sacred sites. See Fed. Reg. 26771 (May 24, 1996) (agencies shall “accommodate access to and ceremonial use of Indian sacred sites by Indian religious practitioners and . . . avoid adversely affecting the physical integrity of such sacred sites.”) Not only did the study of the project’s effects extend over two years, but the EIS devoted over seventy pages to its discussion of BLM’s consultation with the Tribes concerning their religious practices. As a result of BLM’s consultation and recognition of the need to accommodate religious practices, the original scope of the project was reduced. Moreover, and significantly, the EIS stated that the BLM would continue consulting with the Tribes regarding the project’s impact on their religious practices throughout the life of the project. [4] We see no basis to disturb the district court’s conclusion that the Tribes failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success in establishing any arbitrary or capricious agency action in relation to BLM’s obligation under EO 13007 to accommodate the Tribes’ need for access to and use of religious sites. The Tribes’ remaining FLPMA claim is that BLM acted arbitrarily and capriciously by failing to find an unnecessary or undue degradation of scenic resources as a result of the mining operation. According to the record, BLM has a fourlevel system of classifying visual impacts due to mining projects. Class I areas are the most highly protected areas, while Class IV areas allow the most visual impact. [5] The areas affected by the mining project in this case were designated by BLM as belonging to Classes III and IV. BLM determined that some of the mining facilities would satisfy the visual impact standards associated with their particular classification, either during the life of the project or after reclamation of the site. Other facilities, however, were deemed unlikely to meet the relevant visual impact standards, but the agency determined that the adverse visual impacts 15834 SOUTH FORK BAND v. DOI were not significant enough to justify disapproving the project. The Tribes fail to point to any relevant action on BLM’s part that was arbitrary or unreasonable. We will not secondguess the agency’s weighing of the compliant and noncompliant visual resource areas in light of its experience and expertise. Trout Unlimited v. Lohn, 559 F.3d 946, 955 (9th Cir. 2009). We affirm the district court’s determination that the Tribes failed to show a likelihood of succeeding on their FLPMA claims.