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Arizona Snowbowl Under Siege In Federal Court
By J.D. O'Connor
September 13, 2006
Compiled from staff and wire reports
Southwestern Indian tribes upset by what they call the "desecration" of sacred lands by the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort are expected to ask a federal appeals court to block planned improvements on the mountain Thursday.
Lawyers representing the Navajo, White Mountain Apache, and Hopi nations argue that the San Francisco Peaks - and the 777-acre resort - hold deep spiritual significance to their respective cultures and would be defiled by snowmaking and forest thinning operations planned to offset last year's dismal season.
"The peaks are a single living entity. What they are doing is poisoning that entity and disrupting the spirits that live there and the whole balance of life," said Howard Shanker, a Navajo attorney who will argue before a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based appeals court.
J.R. Murray, the Snowbowl's general manager, said he understood and respected the tribes' position but held that without the planned improvements the resort would have to close.
"We're talking about the survival of the business," he said, pointing out that a disappointing 2005/06 season nearly brought the area to its knees.
In earlier court hearings, a federal judge in Phoenix said adding a fifth lift, a tubing area and other resort facilities on federal lands could go forward. U.S. District Judge Paul Rosenblatt ruled in January the tribes "have failed to present any objective evidence that their exercise of religion will be impacted by the Snowbowl upgrades."
Rosenblatt said the tribes would still have access to the peaks. And the judge noted that the tribes' religion has endured despite timber harvesting in the area, cinder pit mining and the installation of gas, electric and water lines. The area also includes cellular towers, camping, motocross, mountain biking and horseback riding, the judge noted.
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While I understand and respect the Tribes reasoning, I wonder if there is any parallel with with their beliefs about the region around Snowbowl and their beliefs about the region around the Ski Sunrise area the Tribe owns near Showlow AZ? |
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Posted by: Paul Leck | October 2, 2006 02:09 PM
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