"A federal appeals court has sided with Native American tribes in their fight against the federal government over a $10 billion energy transmission line designed to carry wind-generated electricity from New Mexico to customers as far away as California.

The Tohono O’odham Nation — along with the San Carlos Apache Tribe, the Center for Biological Diversity and Archaeology Southwest — sued the U.S. Interior Department and then-Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in 2024. They argued that the agency failed to properly consult with the tribes on a historic property designation for southern Arizona’s San Pedro Valley.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that a lower court erred in dismissing the case last year and ordered the matter to be reconsidered.

The panel concluded the plaintiffs raised a plausible claim that a proper consultation would have resulted in the valley being designated as a historic property and that the agency was required to identify historic properties that would be affected and ensure any adverse effects would be avoided, minimized or mitigated before authorizing construction."

Susan Montoya Bryan reports for the Associated Press May 29, 2025. [2]