The tribes filed their federal lawsuit in South Dakota against the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture, alleging that the agencies violated federal law by greenlighting a project near a site called Pe'Sla, a meadow in the central Black Hills used for tribal ceremonies, prayer and youth camps year-round.  It must be investigated.

     The project is the latest point of tension between tribes and mining interests in the lush pine-covered Black Hills, which encompass over 1.2 million acres, rising from the Great Plains in southwest South Dakota and extending into Wyoming. The region is a yearly destination for millions of tourists and boasts such attractions as Mount Rushmore and wildlife-filled state parks. 

    Yet for even longer, it has been sacred to Sioux tribes who call the area He Sapa and consider it "the heart of everything that is," according to the complaint.  Some of the landscape has already been altered by the gold rush of the 1870s that developed the region and displaced Native Americans. And in recent years, a new crop of miners driven by rising gold prices have sought to return to the landscape. The complaint said the project by Rapid City-based mining company Pete Lien & Sons would impact the use of Pe'Sla for traditional, cultural and religious purposes by the tribes, and that the Forest Service didn't consult with the tribes before approving the project.  

       Parts of Pe'Sla are owned by Sioux tribes after they bought the land in 2012, 2015 and 2018, and an agreement between the tribes and the Forest Service established a two-mile buffer zone on public lands around the site, according to the complaint.  Because Pe'Sla wasn't included as an affected area and no environmental review was conducted, the approval violates the National Historic Preservation Act and National Environmental Policy Act, the lawsuit alleges.  Pete Lien & Sons, which supplies materials like limestone, sand and gravel, didn't return email requests or voicemails for comment.