DENVER — A federal appeals court has upheld the U.S. Forest Service's decision to set aside 23,000 acres to protect the view from a sacred American Indian medicine wheel.

Wyoming Sawmills Inc., a logging company in Sheridan, Wyo., had challenged the agency's decision to create the Medicine Wheel National Historic Landmark in the Bighorn National Forest, which closed the area to logging. The company, the main buyer of timber in the forest for more than 30 years, argued that it was hurt economically by the decision and said the protection for the medicine wheel violated the separation of church and state.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday in Wyoming Sawmills Inc. v. U.S. Forest Service that only people, not companies, can be hurt by violations of the First Amendment's prohibition against the government establishing a religion.

While the Forest Service said that of the 23,000 acres set aside, only 18,000 are closed to logging because of its decision to protect the medicine wheel, Wyoming Sawmills said that a total of 30,000 acres were off limits because of the closure of roads through the protected area.

The unanimous three-judge panel found that the company didn't explain how it determined that 30,000 acres are no longer available to logging.

The prehistoric medicine wheel is an 80-foot stone circle located on Medicine Mountain. There are 28 spokes of rocks radiating out from a stack of rocks at the center of the circle.

Wyoming Sawmills was represented by the Lakewood-based Mountain States Legal Foundation, which supports limited government and individual property rights.

The Forest Service's position was supported by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a bipartisan, interfaith public interest law firm which says it supports the free expression of all religions.