Devils Tower Voluntary June Closure: What are your thoughts?

Is it funny to anyone else that we are arguing about a 'voluntary' closure?

Some volunteer some don't. Do we yell at those and condemn those who don't volunteer for say, Yosemite Facelift or a trail maintenance day at your local crag?

The closure happens in June because our modern world follows the Roman calendar. It would be difficult to manage a closure that follows a lunar calendar or ceremonies that may take place at different times each year

It's difficult to tell people the date or dates when something will happen, so you just "round off" to the nearest month?

Let's make this concrete: what date or dates will there be ceremonies this year?
Do you know?
Can you find out?
Will there be any that are not in June?
What's the earliest date in June that the ceremonies happen?
What percentage of days in June are there ceremonies?
What times of day are the ceremonies typically at? How long do they typically last?
Where, specifically, do they occur?

are there any native americans who can explain the cultural significance and the closure

so basically the NPS, Access Fund, local climbing organizations and those "damn injuns" all came together in a vast conspiracy to deny whyte privilege climbers from climbing during a SINGLE MONTH of the year 2 decades ago ...

It's difficult to tell people the date or dates when something will happen, so you just "round off" to the nearest month?

Let's make this concrete: what date or dates will there be ceremonies this year?
Do you know?
Can you find out?
Will there be any that are not in June?
What's the earliest date in June that the ceremonies happen?
What percentage of days in June are there ceremonies?
What times of day are the ceremonies typically at? How long do they typically last?
Where, specifically, do they occur?

To answer your questions: No I can not tell you this information. The Native Americans who have ceremonies at the tower are not required to inform the NPS of the ceremonies and they do NOT want this information shared. This is why the closure is one specific month out of the year.

"It is within the existing authority of the monument Superintendent to close areas to certain activities to protect natural and cultural resources."

"The NPS maintains that future management actions could take place including a mandatory closure. The mandatory closure language is present to show that we are seriously committed to protecting a cultural resource and to acknowledge American Indian concerns. The NPS has the authority to implement a mandatory June closure, but hopes this will not be necessary."

What this statements from the CMP fails to note is that Supt Deb Ligget tried to use the cultural argument in the Petefish case. Judge Dowes said this case is not a cultural issue but it is a religious dispute. He told Deb Ligget to drop the subject of cultural issues.

The NPS land surrounding Devils Tower was/is for any measure devoid of any cultural artifacts. There are zero cultural artifacts on the sides or top of Devils Tower.

The document luquitos cited is outdated and/or intentionally failed to make reference to the court case as it makes no reference to some very strict rulings the Federal Judiciary Court of Dowes imposed on Climbing/Reulations at Devils Tower. In other words the argument of cultural resource destruction has little meaning for Native Americans spiritual practices being bothered by climbers on the Tower as the court insists these are religious issues and not cultural issues.

In early court cases of religious practice interferences the courts have ruled that background effects cannot be construed as a prevention of a person to practice his religion. For example a church on a noisy street cannot close the public street on Sunday because the traffic noises interfere with the quietness they need for their religious practices.

Based on these interpretations the Native Americans or Park Service have no legal grounds to claim that climbers on the sides of Devils Tower are preventing Native Americans from practicing their religion. In other words they have to tolerate far visual infringements and noises like a jet airliner flying over head as they do not prevent them from practising their religion.

Supt Deb Ligget was also unsuccessful in initiating an argument that the Tower was the [their] very monument the Native Americans needed for their religious practices and it had to be free of any other people's presence.

For more judiciary thinking on allowable infringements to one's religious practices see Badoni v. Higginson and some other cases have good discussions on this matter.

It looks like when you practise your religion you cannot have it such that when you look out a window there can be no one in the view. But you do have the freedom to build your church without windows.