The case of Sierra Club v. Morton involved the question of whether the Sierra Club, an organization dedicated to the conservation of natural landscapes and fighting for environmental justice, had enough stake in the development of the Mineral King valley in the Sequoia National Forest of California to claim a tort against Walt Disney Enterprises’ efforts to develop the region. As Walt Disney set about plans to develop a ski lodge on the outer limits of the Mineral King valley, it needed a highway for the tourists to reach the lodges, which would require state and federal funding. The proposed highway would have to cut through this region of the national forest, which led the Sierra Club to file a lawsuit against Secretary of the Interior Ballard Morton, who approved the highway route and the construction of the resort. While a federal district court would allow the lawsuit to proceed, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals argued that the Sierra Club would not suffer personal harm by the development and thus was not eligible for a tort claim, so it had no grounds to bring a suit to federal court under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).