Abstract
In Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association v. Peterson the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in an unprecedented decision, affirmed a lower court ruling that permanently enjoined the United States Forest Service from developing a massive tract of public land on first amendment free exercise grounds. The decision directly affected a proposed logging project on 76,500 acres of the Six Rivers National Forest in northern California, and forbade the construction of a logging road that would have provided access to another tract of standing timber because the projects would have infringed on the religious beliefs and practices of several tribes of Indians living nearby. Northwest Indian represents either a breakthrough in the area of Indian religious freedom, or an aberration, because it is the first successful attempt by Native Americans to block federal management of public lands on first amendment free exercise grounds.
Recommended Citation
Woodall, James H.
(1987)
"American Indians and the First Amendment: Site-Specific Religion and Public Land Management,"
Utah Law Review: Vol. 1987:
No.
3, Article 6.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol1987/iss3/6