Arizona Snowbowl's plan to make snow on the San Francisco Peaks with reclaimed wastewater got another green light Thursday. But Native American tribes and environmental groups are likely now to take the fight to federal court.
Arizona Snowbowl's plan to make snow on the San Francisco Peaks with reclaimed wastewater got another green light Thursday.
But Native American tribes and environmental groups are likely now to take the fight to federal court.
While litigation is proceeding, however, so is the Snowbowl, unless a judge grants an injunction to block construction.
"We will move forward to implement the projects we can this summer," Snowbowl General Manager J.R. Murray said.
Snowbowl could begin construction at the end of this month on a 14-mile pipeline to carry reclaimed water up from Flagstaff.
That became possible Thursday, when Southwest Regional Forester Harv Forsgren upheld a decision by the Coconino National Forest that would allow snowmaking on the Peaks The Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation and Sierra Club plan to sue to prevent snowmaking on the mountains, according to tribal leaders and an attorney.
"It became evident early on in the process that the federal authorities were ignoring the deeply felt concerns of the Hopi Tribe and all native nations," Hopi Chairman Wayne Taylor said in a statement. "It is our duty and obligation to protect and preserve the spiritual integrity of Nuvatukyaovi, and we will never give up in our efforts to do so."
Without this decision in their favor, Snowbowl owners would have had little incentive to stay in business and absorb years of meager snow and lean-to-no profits.
"It very well could make the difference in Flagstaff having a ski area or not," Murray said.
The City Council has twice approved a contract to sell reclaimed water to Snowbowl, with the latest contract expiring in March 2006.
Forsgren affirmed Coconino National Forest Supervisor Nora Rasure's decision to allow snowmaking at the Snowbowl, in accordance with the Forest Service policy of opening the forest for many different uses.
He found that Rasure's decision to allow snowmaking on the Peaks wouldn't violate Native Americans' religious freedoms under the First Amendment and that an environmental analysis was complete.
The Sierra Club and Navajo Nation appeals will charge that the decision harms Native American religious beliefs without demonstrating a compelling reason for doing so and that the environmental analysis was done incorrectly, attorney Howard Shanker said.
The charge of interference with religious freedom echoes a 1980s case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the tribes lost.
Rasure's decision erred in allowing logging of 11 trees that are potential habitat for Mexican spotted owls for construction of the reclaimed water pipeline, Forsgren found.
More than 170 people appealed Rasure's decision to allow snowmaking.
Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. said the Navajo Nation would do "all it can" to defeat the snowmaking decision.
"To Native Americans, desecrating the San Francisco Peaks with wastewater is like flushing the Koran down the toilet," President Shirley said in a statement.
"We see other people go to war for their way of life, their essence," he said. "Here though, the federal government is ignoring the pleas and wishes of the native people."
Others compared the decision to cultural warfare.
"Today, the Regional Forester affirms government policy of racial intolerance and perpetuates the slow murder of Native American cultures through its decision to allow the desecration of the Sacred San Francisco Peaks," said Jeneda Benally of the Save the Peaks Coalition.
WHAT'S PART OF THE PROJECT:
-- Constructing a 14-mile pipeline from Flagstaff to the Snowbowl
-- 205 acres covered by snowmaking
-- Installing a buried, 10 million-gallon snowmaking water reservoir
-- Two high-speed chairlifts
-- New trails
-- Building a tubing and snowplay area
-- Enlarging Hart Prairie Lodge
-- A Native American cultural and education center
-- Thinning 47 acres
-- Making a ski area for beginners
-- Adding 400 more parking spaces
THE DECISION: Regional Forester Harv Forsgren has upheld a decision allowing snowmaking with reclaimed wastewater at Arizona Snowbowl.
Snowmaking could begin as soon as the 2006-2007 season, Snowbowl's general manager said.
The next step: This isn't the final word. The Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation and Sierra Club have vowed to sue to prevent snowmaking, saying it desecrates the Peaks. Native American tribes litigated the last Snowbowl upgrade in the late 1970s and lost.
Timeline for construction: Snowbowl's owners will begin designing snowmaking infrastructure, including a water pipeline from Flagstaff, this summer. Unless a plaintiff is successful in getting an injunction to delay them, they have the option of beginning construction any time after June 30, despite litigation.
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Source: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
