Every day, the National Trust for Historic Preservation handles a variety of preservation law issues through either direct participation or consultation with organizations, individuals, and governmental entities.

In the round up for Summer 2024 we are sharing a few of the cases that the legal advocacy team is working on with state and local advocates to save historic places across the United States. Some are ongoing efforts, while others provide lessons learned and important precedents for future advocacy work even though the site is lost.

On June 28, 2024 the United States Supreme Court issued a decision that may impact historic preservation. Read the National Trust's statement on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, overturning the Chevron doctrine.

BLM Adopts Alternatives to Lava Ridge Wind Project Further Away from Minidoka National Historic Site

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on June 6, for the Lava Ridge Wind Project adopting an alternative that would be less harmful to the Minidoka National Historic Site (listed in 2022 as one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places) than the original plan.

The proposed project has been moved nine miles away from the Minidoka National Historic Site, and the number of turbines has been reduced from 400 down to 241. In addition, the height of the turbines has been reduced from 740 feet down to 660 feet.

BLM still needs to achieve consensus on a Section 106 agreement prior to issuing a Record of Decision. The Japanese American community remains adamantly opposed to the plan, as does Idaho's political leadership, all of whom have urged the BLM to deny its permit. Opponents have also indicated an intent to challenge the project in court if BLM issues the permit.

BLM Finalizes Maximum Protection From Target Shooting in Sonoran Desert National Monument

We are thrilled by the recent news that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) finalized its amended Resource Management Plan for the Sonoran Desert National Monument on June 4. The final plan calls for a dramatic reduction in the areas where recreational target shooting would be allowed, with a 99 percent prohibition on target shooting. Prior to this prohibition, target shooting was permitted on 435,700 acres of the monument (approximately 90 percent), which resulted in irreparable damage to prehistoric rock art and iconic saguaro cactus plants. This finalized plan reduces target shooting that area to just 5,295 (about 1 percent) of its 486,400 acres. Read our last review on the Sonoran Desert victory.

Phase 2 NEPA Regulations Published

The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) finalized the Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule, completing the process of reversing the Trump administration’s changes to the National Environmental Policy Act regulations that would have diminished protection for historic and natural resources and that the National Trust and our coalition partners challenged in court. The effective date for the regulations is July 1, 2024.

National Historic Landmark Designation Moves Forward for West Bank of St. John the Baptist in Louisiana

On August 6, 2024, port facility Greenfield Louisiana LLC announced that it is abandoning its plans to construct a grain terminal in Wallace, Louisiana in the West Bank of St. John the Baptist Parish. The National Trust worked in opposition to the proposed grain terminal for three years in coordination with local allies including the Descendants Project, the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation, the Louisiana Landmarks Society, the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, Whitney Plantation, Evergreen Plantation, and many others.

The West Bank of St. John the Baptist Parish was included on the National Trust’s list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2023 due to the potential construction of one of the largest grain elevators in the world within this historic cultural landscape and the substantial adverse effects that construction would have had on multiple nationally significant historic resources.

Federal District Court Rules Against Protecting Morningstar Tabernacle No. 88 Order of Moses Cemetery and Hall and Other Historic Resources

On March 30, the federal district court ruled against the National Trust, Friends of Moses Hall, the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in their efforts to prohibit a Washington Beltway toll lane expansion, based on adverse impacts to Morningstar Tabernacle No. 88 Order of Moses Cemetery and Hall.

The National Trust and our coalition of co-plaintiffs had filed detailed briefs with the federal district court on June 16 and September 5, 2023, urging the court to rule that the state and federal highway agencies, had failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act. Among other things, the highway agencies postponed much of the research needed to assess the full magnitude of the adverse impacts on the historic Morningstar Tabernacle No. 88 Order of Moses Cemetery and Hall, (which was included on the America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2021).

Court Rules Against Preservationists in Poughkeepsie, New York; Case Continues on Appeal

As previously reported, the Mayor of Poughkeepsie, New York, dismissed the majority of the city’s historic preservation commission members and replaced them with individuals who did not meet the professional qualifications specifically required in the preservation ordinance, after the commission had repeatedly denied approval of a development project due to its negative impacts on the historic Pelton Mansion. The reconstituted, unqualified commission then approved the development project surrounding the Pelton Mansion in April of 2023, which the preceding commission members had denied.

On November 24, 2023, the National Trust filed an amicus brief, joined by the Preservation League of New York State, in support of litigation by local preservation advocates challenging the improper actions by the Poughkeepsie city government. Unfortunately, the court ruled against the Plaintiffs on March 22, 2024. The Plaintiffs appealed the decision in June 2024, and the National Trust and the Preservation League plan to support the appeal with another amicus brief in late July 2024.

After the federal district court’s ruling, we filed an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit on May 14, 2024, and our opening brief was filed in mid-July. Friends of Moses Hall is not participating in the appeal, but the appeal still includes important Section 4(f) issues regarding impacts to historic Plummers Island, which should have been avoided and minimized by a shift in the alignment. In addition, the appeal emphasizes the project’s disproportionate air pollution impacts on environmental justice communities.

North Dakota Supreme Court Rejects Bismarck Rail Bridge Appeal

On February 8, 2024, we received the disappointing news that the North Dakota Supreme Court rejected an appeal in the long-standing battle to preserve the historic 1883 Bismarck-Mandan Rail Bridge. Read our last review on the Bismark Rail Bridge appeal. The Bismark Rail Bridge was one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2019.

Briefs Filed in Penn Station and Frank J. Wood Bridge Cases

This spring, the National Trust filed briefs in the Penn Station and Frank J. Wood Bridge cases, both of which are on appeal following lower court decisions that ruled against the preservation plaintiffs. In the Penn Station case, the National Trust filed a new amicus brief with the New York Appellate Division in late-May, joined by the New York Landmarks Conservancy, and the Preservation League of New York State. A coalition of organizations that were plaintiffs in the lower court case have also decided to participate as amici on appeal, by joining the National Trust’s amicus brief, including the City Club of New York and the Penn Community Defense Fund.

In the Frank J. Wood Bridge case, the federal district court rejected our challenges to the replacement of the historic bridge connecting Brunswick and Topsham, Maine on January 5, 2024. The appeal takes the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, where our appellate brief was filed on May 24. The Federal Highway Administration’s approval of the bridge replacement project was based exclusively on the rationale that preservation and rehabilitation of the historic bridge was not a “feasible and prudent alternative” under Section 4(f), because it would involve costs of “extraordinary magnitude.”