Snowbowl A brief overview

The controversy over snowmaking

The Debate  The San Francisco Peaks have long been the source of land-use conflicts  The resort is seeking to manufacture extra snow using wastewater from the city of Flagstaff.  The San Francisco Peaks are sacred to 13 tribes, and these tribes strongly oppose the use of wastewater on the mountain.

History of Snowbowl  1872 Mining Law  1948 Arizona grants Native Americans the right to vote.  1969 The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was a Congressional effort to ensure that federal agencies consider the effects of their proposed actions on the environment.  1978The American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) was originally intended to protect all forms of Native American spiritual practices, but the law failed to protect sacred sites in subsequent court tests.  2002July. Sacred land protection legislation was introduced at the federal level and in California.  2004February. Forest Service issues the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on proposed Snowbowl development which indicates its support for the plan to make snow from reclaimed wastewater  2004February 2, Save the Peaks Coalition  2005June 10, The US Forest Service gave Arizona Snowbowl approval to make artificial snow.  2006January Ruling. (in favor of Arizona Snowbowl allowing them artificial snow to be made for skiing.)

Support of reclaimed water  The present-day Arizona Snow Bowl ski area hosts 30,000 to 180,000 visitors per year.  Visitor numbers fluctuate according to the snowfall, hence the resort is seeking to manufacture extra snow using wastewater from the city of Flagstaff.

Opposition to reclaimed water  The Peaks are sacred ground to the Navajo, the Havasupai, and the Hopi, Zuni, Hualapai, Yavapai and five Apache tribes. agetemp/background.html agetemp/background.html agetemp/background.html agetemp/background.html  Some environmentalists are also in opposition to the use of reclaimed waste water. rt_1999/map.asp rt_1999/map.asp rt_1999/map.asp rt_1999/map.asp

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