Public comment on a proposal to allow snowmaking in the sacred San Francisco Peaks in Arizona are due April 13.

Several tribes, including the Hopi, the Navajo and the Apache, oppose the plan. They say the use of reclaimed wastewater is a desecration of a place considered the home of important cultural figures and plants.

"The plain fact is that the Snow Bowl desecrates, profanes, and abuses what is the heart of Hopi religion," Hopi Vice Chairman Caleb Johnson said in a letter to The Independent.

The U.S. Forest Service agreed to allow the operators of the Arizona Snowbowl, a ski area, to use wastewater to make snow. To make comments, visit http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/
publications/snowbowl/index.shtml.

Get the Story:
Hopi Vice-Chair:The Snow Bowl desecrates, profanes, abuses the heart of Hopi religion. (The Gallup Independent 4/8)
Executive profile: Snowbowl GM is passionate about snowmaking (The Arizona Republic 4/4)

Relevant Documents:
Draft EIS

Relevant Links:
Coconino National Forest - http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/index.shtml

Related Stories:
Hopi Tribe to protest against snowmaking plan (03/19)
Editorial: Ski area helped by snowmaking plan (02/20)
Navajo Nation not planning boycott for sacred site (2/20)
Coalition protests snowmaking in sacred peaks (2/18)
Tribes to fight snowmaking in sacred Ariz. peaks (02/03)
Forest Service delays report on ski area expansion (12/02)
Hopi Tribe opposing snowmaking in sacred peaks (11/20)
Ski area on sacred mountain expanding (10/15)