Sierra Club, Petitioner, v. Rogers C.B. Morton, Individually, and as Secretary of the Interior of the United States, et a.

The Sierra Club brought this action to stop a ski resort development in, and the construction of a road through, the Sequoia National Park. The injury alleged by the Sierra Club was the change in the use to which this area would undergo. The plaintiff sued as a "membership corporation" claiming it had a special interest in the maintenance and conservation of the area. It claimed that the development would destroy or otherwise affect the scenery, natural and historic objects and wildlife in the park, and impair the enjoyment of the park for future generations. The Court held that the Sierra Club did not have standing to bring this action. The impact of the proposed road would not fall indiscriminately upon every citizen, but would be felt directly only by those who use the park, and for whom the aesthetic and recreational values of the area would be lessened by the proposed development. The Court emphasized that the Sierra Club had failed to allege that it or its member would be affected in any of their activities or pastimes by this development. Nowhere in the pleadings or affidavits did the Sierra Club claim that its members used the park for any purpose, much less that they would be significantly affected by the development. In the absence of allegations that the Sierra Club or its members would be affected in any of their activities by the proposed development, the Sierra Club’s alleged special interest in the conservation of national game reserves and forests is insufficient to give it standing.