The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can join the federal government's defense against a lawsuit protesting the church's lease of Martin's Cove in Wyoming, a federal magistrate has ruled.

In a lawsuit filed in March, the ACLU charges that the October lease of Martin's Cove, made possible through legislation sponsored by former Utah Congressman Jim Hansen, violates the establishment and free-speech clauses of the First Amendment.

The ACLU argues the lease agreement unfairly gives the LDS Church too much control over the Martin's Cove site, which is about 60 miles southwest of Casper, and that visitors are subjected to proselytizing or restricted from some areas if they're not LDS.

U.S. Magistrate Judge William Beaman on Tuesday granted the church's motion to join the lawsuit.

In its motion to intervene in the case, the LDS Church argued it is doing a public service by maintaining and preserving the site and saving the Bureau of Land Management the expense of doing so.

It contends that, although a visitors center on church-owned property near the cove does contain information about the church, visitors are not forced to go there.

Martin's Cove, which is on BLM land, is the site along the historic Mormon trail where a group of LDS handcart pioneers took refuge in 1856 after they were caught in a fierce snowstorm on their journey to Salt Lake City. More than 100 died in the storm.

LDS missionaries serve as trail and museum guides, and Martin's Cove is accessible only through a private piece of property purchased by the church in 1996 and turned into a visitors center.

The ACLU's lawsuit asks that the lease be terminated and that future leases to the church be prohibited.

The suit was filed in Cheyenne's federal court on behalf of the Seattle-based Western Land Exchange Project and four Wyoming residents who claim to have been offended by an overriding LDS theme while visiting Martin's Cove. It names Interior Secretary Gale Norton and BLM Director Kathleen Clarke as defendants.

Congress authorized the lease in 2003. It gives the church control over the 933-acre area for 25 years.

In its motion, the church disputes the ACLU's contention that American pioneers traveled on historic trails on the Martin's Cove property during westward migration.

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E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com