At issue were plans by the Park Service to build an enclosed theater seating 200 people at the base of Last Stand Hill, site of the climax of the 1876 battle in which Custer and five companies of the 7th Cavalry were wiped out. While concerns over the project had prompted then-National Park Service Director Mary Bomar to give the project further review, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility went to court to stop the project. The lawsuit claimed the project would occupy the middle of the battlefield and block views of how the battle evolved as well as where it ended.
“Hopefully, [Snyder] and his staff will now proceed with enlightened planning to remove intrusions from the historic landscape and implement the current General Management Plan and open an off-site facility,” Utley said after the Park Service reversed course.
