## Facts

- Las Huertas Canyon in the Cibola National Forest contains sites and resources of religious and cultural importance to the Pueblo of Sandia, including shrines, ceremonial paths, and materials used in ceremonies and traditional healing.
- The U.S. Forest Service issued a draft environmental impact statement proposing multiple management alternatives; it ultimately selected an additional “Alternative I” that included road reconstruction and expanded recreational facilities.
- The Pueblo asserted the canyon qualified as a “traditional cultural property” eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places due to its cultural and religious significance.
- The Forest Service concluded the canyon was not eligible and sought consultation under NHPA § 106; the New Mexico State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) initially concurred.
- After suit was filed, it emerged the Forest Service had not provided the SHPO certain relevant documents during consultation; once provided, the SHPO withdrew his concurrence, stating the omission affected his ability to consult appropriately.
- The Pueblo and environmental organizations sued for declaratory and injunctive relief, alleging noncompliance with NHPA § 106; the district court granted summary judgment to the federal defendants, finding a “reasonable and good faith effort” to identify historic properties.

## Issues

1. Whether the Forest Service satisfied NHPA § 106 by making a reasonable and good-faith effort to identify historic properties, including traditional cultural properties, potentially affected by its canyon management plan.
2. Whether summary judgment for the federal defendants was proper given disputes about the adequacy and good faith of the agency’s identification and consultation efforts.

## Decision

- The Tenth Circuit reversed the grant of summary judgment and remanded.
- The court held the Forest Service’s efforts to identify historic properties were neither reasonable nor undertaken in good faith under NHPA § 106 and its regulations.
- The court relied in part on evidence that the SHPO’s initial concurrence was informed by an incomplete record supplied by the Forest Service, and that the SHPO withdrew concurrence after receiving omitted materials.
- The court indicated that questions regarding the adequacy of the agency’s process precluded summary disposition.

## Legal Principles

- NHPA § 106 imposes procedural duties on federal agencies to take into account effects of undertakings on properties listed in or eligible for the National Register and to provide an opportunity for appropriate preservation review and comment.
- An agency must make a reasonable and good-faith effort to identify historic properties potentially affected by an undertaking, including properties of traditional cultural and religious significance to tribes.
- Consultation with the SHPO must be conducted in good faith; withholding or failing to provide relevant information bearing on eligibility and effects can undermine § 106 compliance.
- While NHPA does not require a particular substantive eligibility outcome, courts may reject deference to agency determinations when the agency has not satisfied § 106’s procedural requirements.

## Conclusion

The Tenth Circuit required further proceedings because the Forest Service did not carry out NHPA § 106’s identification and consultation obligations reasonably and in good faith, particularly in its handling of information relevant to the canyon’s potential status as a traditional cultural property.


Pueblo of Sandia v. United States, 50 F.3d 856 (10th Cir. 1995)