Lopez v. United States (Oak Flat application)

What happened

Oak Flat is National Forest land in the Tonto National Forest. The Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act directs the Forest Service to transfer nearly 2,500 acres there, including Oak Flat, which the Ninth Circuit calls "an Apache ceremonial religious ground," to Resolution Copper. In exchange, Resolution Copper must provide over 5,000 acres of equally appraised land to the federal government.

Three groups sued: a coalition of conservation groups, the San Carlos Apache Tribe, and a separate set of Apache plaintiffs known as the Lopez plaintiffs. On March 13, 2026 the Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial of a preliminary injunction. It held that the Lopez plaintiffs' claim under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Free Exercise Clause was foreclosed by precedent. The court wrote that "Congress has chosen to transfer this land, and Plaintiffs have not raised any viable challenges to that decision." Eos reported that the title transfer was completed the same day.

The Lopez plaintiffs then asked the Supreme Court for an injunction. The Supreme Court's docket for application No. 25A1008, Lopez v. United States, shows it was submitted to Justice Kagan and denied by her on March 19, 2026. It was a ruling on an emergency application, not an opinion of the full Court.

This application followed the earlier Apache Stronghold case, in which the Supreme Court denied certiorari in May 2025.

Good to know. The application was denied by Justice Kagan alone, not by the full Court. The transfer date comes from a secondary news source.

Summarized with AI assistance from 5 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error