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Walt Disney (1901-1966) hoped to build several theme parks following the extraordinary success of Disneyland, which opened in 1955. Organizers of the Squaw Valley Olympics in 1960, wanted to stage a spectacular opening ceremony, the first broadcast live in the US. They turned to Disney to stage it, and thereafter, he became interested in developing a ski resort in the Sierra Nevadas. One of his ideas was the Mineral King Ski Resort, planned for a tract near Sequoia National Park in Sierra Nevada and Tulare Counties. Disney had long been an avid skier, who was an early investor in Hannes Schroll's Sugar Bowl Ski Resort near Lake Tahoe in the late 1930s. Land acquisition started furtively in late 1964, and the Disney Company constructed a pro-development coalition composed of business leaders, CA Governor Edmund G. Brown (1905–1996) and state and federal bureaucrats. Momentum for the Mineral King plan was derailed by Disney's death on 12/15/1966 and by naturalists, who sought to preserve a fragile habitat and objected to the use of public land for private purposes. The Sierra Club brought suit in 1969 to challenge the project winning at the Federal District level, but losing in the Court of Appeals. When its standing was questioned to bring suit, the Sierra Club requested that the Supreme Court hear the case. The court found in favor of development temporarily, but the Sierra Club reconstituted its case and managed to put added pressure on Disney's lawyers. Publicity proved unpalatable for Disney who abandoned the project in the early 1970s; the firm was also busy reaping huge profits from its Disney World park opened in 1971. The Mineral King case was an important experience for the Sierra Club, prompting it to form a potent legal arm, the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund.

PCAD id: 18047