Montana Jesus statue avoids eviction from federal land

A nearly 60-year-old statue of Jesus dedicated to the Army’s 10th Mountain Division will get to stay on federal land in Montana after approval from forest officials Tuesday.

Chip Weber, supervisor of Flathead National Forest, announced the reauthorization of a special-use permit for a local Knights of Columbus council to display the statue, nicknamed “Big Mountain Jesus,” on a 25-by-25-foot plot of federal land on Big Mountain in northwestern Montana.

The statue, constructed with the help of members of the 10th Mountain Division, is at the end of a chair lift at Whitefish Mountain Resort, which also uses the federal land.

The first special-use permit for the statue was granted in 1953.

In a release, Mr. Weber called the statue “a long-standing object in the community” that is associated with the growth of skiing on the mountain. He also cited the statue’s eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Tuesday’s announcement came after the permit initially was denied last fall due to a complaint from the Wisconsin-based organization Freedom From Religion Foundation, which claimed the statue violates the U.S. Constitution’s establishment clause.

The new permit will be in effect for the next 10 years.

William A. Glidden, grand knight of the Kalispell, Mont., Knights of Columbus council that handles the statue’s permit, said he was happy with Tuesday’s announcement.

“We feel they made the right decision,” Mr. Glidden said.

The decision will not go without challenge.

Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, said the organization would sue the U.S. Forest Service in federal court in Montana this week. She also disputed the claims that the statue was a war memorial, saying there was no record from the time of the statue’s creation that indicated it was a war memorial.

“We know it’s a very belated claim by them,” Ms. Gaylor said. She added that the group would have no problem with a secular memorial for soldiers at the site.

Following the initial denial of the statue’s permit, forest officials held a comment period from Oct. 19 to Dec. 8, during which 95,000 comments were received. Mr. Weber’s statement said none of the comments about the statue indicated a substantive concern regarding environmental conditions.

Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., a major proponent of the statue, said in a statement that the decision to reauthorize the permit was the result of public comment in support of the statue.

“This is a huge win, not only for the people in Northwest Montana, but for the veterans of the Tenth Mountain Division to whom the statue pays tribute,” Rep. Rehberg said.

As a result of the decision, a proposed hearing on a potential land swap between the ski resort and the federal government scheduled for Friday was postponed indefinitely.