by Andy Petefish, Friends of Devils Tower, Devils Tower, Wyoming

About the author: Andy Petefish is a climber and professional guide who lives at Devils Tower, Wyoming. Friends of Devils Tower is an organization that is opposed to the National Park Service denying otherwise normal and legal access in order to establish a religion on public land at Devils Tower National Monument.

Access to Devils Tower can never be denied for religious reasons as ruled by a federal judge in June 1996. The coercive "voluntary" June access closure at Devils Tower National Monument to tax-paying Americans out of respect for land-based religious practitioners clearly violates the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution1 and Devils Tower National Monument's own management policies.2

The National Park Service's closure to, or...