Judge Kea Riggs: Blocks Valles Caldera Eagle Permit With RFRA Injunction

• A federal judge temporarily blocked a permit allowing Jemez Pueblo to take an eagle in New Mexico's Valles Caldera National Preserve.
• The Santa Clara and Zia Pueblos sued, arguing the permit would substantially burden their religious practices under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
• U.S. District Judge Kea Riggs found that killing an eagle in the caldera would likely harm the plaintiffs' sincerely held religious beliefs.
• The court determined that the government could accommodate Jemez Pueblo's religious exercise through existing permits in other locations, representing a less restrictive alternative.
• The Valles Caldera is spiritually significant to 37 tribes, and the injunction prevents irreparable harm to the plaintiffs' core religious practices.

This temporary injunction highlights the significant legal exposure for federal agencies under the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (RFRA) when issuing permits that may substantially burden Native American religious practices.

A federal judge has issued a temporary injunction, preventing the National Park Service from allowing a New Mexico tribe to take an eagle within the sacred Valles Caldera National Preserve. U.S. District Judge Kea Riggs, a Donald Trump appointee, ordered the 13-day pause, effective until November 10, with a hearing scheduled for November 9 to consider extending the order. This decision directly impacts a permit that would have authorized the Jemez Pueblo to kill one golden or bald eagle inside the preserve, located west of Santa Fe.

The permit's issuance coincided with the opening of golden eagle season on Wednesday, which was set to continue through November 27, while bald eagle season was slated for November 1 to November 27. The Jemez Pueblo, a federally recognized tribe with approximately 3,400 members in Sandoval County, holds ancestral ties to Banco Bonito, a 3,000-acre portion of the caldera. A prior settlement with the federal government acknowledges the Pueblo's right to conduct cultural, traditional, and religious practices within this area. However, the temporary block came after the Pueblo of Santa Clara and Pueblo of Zia, also federally recognized tribes, initiated legal action against the Park Service.

The lawsuit brought by the Santa Clara and Zia Pueblos contended that the permit infringed upon their religious freedom, alongside alleged violations of federal environmental and administrative statutes. Judge Riggs, however, focused her initial review exclusively on the religious freedom claim. Central to the plaintiffs' argument is the profound spiritual significance of golden and bald eagles to their communities; they assert that the killing of even a single eagle within the caldera would severely disrupt religious practices that necessitate the presence of live eagles. The Pueblos articulated in their legal filing that "Allowing harm to come to eagles in the preserve is strongly against the Pueblos’ cultural and religious values."

Judge Riggs determined that the Santa Clara and Zia Pueblos demonstrated a strong likelihood of prevailing under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). This federal statute prohibits the government from substantially burdening a person's exercise of religion unless it can prove that the burden is the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling governmental interest. The court concluded that authorizing the taking of an eagle in the caldera would indeed impose a substantial burden on the Pueblos' sincerely held religious beliefs, drawing parallels to a Tenth Circuit ruling that recognized restrictions on access to sacred eagle feathers as a substantial burden on religious exercise. Importantly, Judge Riggs also acknowledged the equally significant religious interests of the Jemez Pueblo, noting that “Just like the preservation of eagles is core to Plaintiffs’ religious practices, eagle taking is core to Jemez Pueblo’s religious exercise.” She further recognized that the government possesses a compelling interest in facilitating Jemez Pueblo's eagle taking practices to avoid substantially burdening their religious exercise.

Despite recognizing the government's compelling interest in accommodating Jemez Pueblo's religious practices, Judge Riggs found that this interest could be met without permitting the eagle taking within the Valles Caldera National Preserve. She pointed to an existing U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permit that already allows Jemez Pueblo to take up to eight eagles across five New Mexico counties. While this permit does not extend to the caldera due to the National Park Service's jurisdiction over that specific area, Riggs identified it as a viable alternative. The judge concluded that the least restrictive option available was for Jemez Pueblo to exercise their eagle taking rights in other locations covered by their federal permit, rather than within the caldera. She explicitly stated, “Nothing in the record suggests that this practice must be exercised within Valles Caldera.”

The Valles Caldera holds immense spiritual and ceremonial importance for 37 different tribes, including the Jemez Pueblo. Judge Riggs emphasized that without the temporary restraining order, the Santa Clara and Zia Pueblos faced irreparable harm that monetary compensation could not address, as the potential injury "cuts to the core of their religions." The urgency was heightened by the fact that Jemez Pueblo could have taken an eagle as early as Wednesday, before the court could fully deliberate the dispute. Conversely, the court found that blocking the permit would inflict minimal harm on the government. This temporary injunction highlights the significant legal exposure for federal agencies under the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (RFRA) when issuing permits that may substantially burden Native American religious practices. Lawyers advising federal entities or private companies operating on federal lands must meticulously assess potential impacts on tribal religious exercise and proactively explore less restrictive alternatives to avoid similar legal challenges and injunctions.

This temporary injunction highlights the significant legal exposure for federal agencies under the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (RFRA) when issuing permits that may substantially burden Native American religious practices. Lawyers advising federal entities or private companies operating on federal lands must meticulously assess potential impacts on tribal religious exercise and proactively explore less restrictive alternatives to avoid similar legal challenges and injunctions.

Source: Original reporting via Associated Press