Sierra Club v. Davies

In 1976, the State of Arkansas received a grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act (LWCFA) to purchase a parcel of land that became known as the Crater of Diamonds State Park (park). In 1987, a state statute authorized the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism (department) to lease the park for diamond production. Before doing so, the department sought to approve investigatory drilling to determine the park’s commercial potential. Because the state purchased these park lands with LWCFA funds, however, federal law required that they be maintained as a public outdoor recreational space unless the National Park Service (NPS) authorized their conversion to a different use. The department requested the NPS find that temporary investigatory drilling would not result in a conversion to a different use, and the NPS agreed. The Sierra Club and other environmental organizations (collectively, Sierra Club) (plaintiffs) sued the department and the NPS (collectively, agencies) (defendants) arguing that exploratory drilling could not be separated from the state’s larger goal of commercial mining in the park, and therefore, exploratory drilling constituted an unlawful conversion under the LWCFA. The NPS countered that the drilling was only temporary and would not limit the public’s recreational uses of the park except for a narrow timeframe. The mining companies involved in the park project intervened. The district court agreed with the Sierra Club and issued a preliminary injunction. The mining companies appealed.