Jun. 10, 2005 12:00 AM
FLAGSTAFF - The U.S. Forest Service on Thursday gave Arizona Snowbowl the
go-ahead to make artificial snow and other improvements at its ski area,
concluding that interest in skiing and the economic benefits to Flagstaff
outweighed Native American religious concerns.
The decision will allow Snowbowl to pump treated wastewater nearly 15 miles
from Flagstaff to the ski area, where snow will be made and propelled on
about 200 acres of the 777-acre ski area. Construction of the pipeline,
which would follow established utility corridors up the San Francisco Peaks,
is expected to take less than a year.
Snowbowl General Manager J.R. Murray said he hopes to have snowmaking in
place for the start of the 2006-07 season.
In announcing his decision, regional Forester Harv Forsgren of Albuquerque
said that "significant cultural differences" and "seemingly incompatible
positions" made his decision difficult.
Forsgren called skiing "a valued recreational use on the San Francisco Peaks
for many" and that the Snowbowl needs a consistent and reliable operating
season to stay solvent financially. Forsgren also noted that the ski area's
infrastructure and terrain needs to be upgraded to meet current demand.
But first, an expected bevy of federal lawsuits from the state's Indian
tribes will have to be resolved, which could delay the project for months,
perhaps years.
Forest Service officials said 40 groups appealed Coconino National Forest's
decision to approve snowmaking to the regional office.
George Hardeen, a spokesman for Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr.,
said the tribe "will do everything it can to combat this decision regarding
the San Francisco Peaks. . . . This reflects the lack of understanding about
how Native Americans feel regarding the Peaks."
Howard Shanker, a Tempe lawyer who represents the Navajos and Sierra Club,
said he will file a suit before the end of the month. Shanker said his main
argument will be that the Forest Service did not take into account many
issues that affect Native American religions and the environment in its
decision.
Vanessa Charles, a spokeswoman for the Hopi Tribe, said tribal officials
were laying the groundwork for another federal suit during meetings Thursday
afternoon.
"It became evident early on in the process that federal authorities were
ignoring the deeply felt concerns of the Hopi Tribe and all Native nations,"
Hopi Chairman Wayne Taylor said in a prepared statement.
But the tribes face a tall order in getting the Forest Service decision
overturned.
Federal courts sided with Snowbowl in the 1980s when tribes opposed an
expansion and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case.
Both the Navajo and Hopi tribes say that disturbances on their sacred peaks
interfere with traditional religious activities.
The San Francisco Peaks are one of four sacred peaks to the Navajos, and
Hopi traditionalists teach that kachinas, their messengers to the creator,
reside in the Peaks part of the year after religious ceremonies in the
villages end.
Snowbowl just completed its best year ever with more than 190,000 skiers.
Backers of snowmaking contend that seasons like that will become the norm,
when skiing contributes an estimated $20 million annually to Flagstaff's
economy and employs about 400 people.
But for much of the past decade, in the midst of the state's drought, the
ski area languished with some seasons a month or less. Snowbowl operators
said they would have to close eventually unless they received permission to
make snow.
As a result, Thursday's decision was greeted with a big sigh of relief from
Flagstaff's business community.
Gordon Watkins, president of the Flagstaff lodging group Distinctive Bed and
Breakfasts of Northern Arizona, said he was elated and that it was "long
overdue."
"Skiers make up a good half of our winter business, and snowmaking is a huge
issue for Flagstaff's economy," Watkins said, adding that he has no sympathy
for the objections of Native American religious leaders.
"They've already got the largest ski area in the state (Sunrise Park Resort)
and all the casinos," Watkins said, adding that he believes if the Native
Americans owned Snowbowl they would want to operate it as a ski resort.