Snowmaking Threatened by Lawsuits

It’s no secret that some “Green” groups don’t like ski areas. But here’s a relatively new–to me, at least–threat to the ability of snowboarders and skiers to enjoy their winter sport.

Arizona Snowbowl, near Flagstaff, sits high in the mountains. But it doesn’t get much snow, so the management would like to put in snowmaking operations, using recycled water.

Will ski operations be crippled by religious claims?

The June 8 edition of the Wall Street Journal has an article (“Tribes Invoke Gods to Block Wastewater Snowmaking”) about a lawsuit that has stopped the operation. (Subscription required; this temporary link will work for a while for non-subscribers).

Thirteen Indian tribes say that the god-like mountains would be offended by snowmaking, and have filed suit under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

That seems a far stretch. The RFRA was implemented to keep governments from forbidding the free exercise of religion. If the Snowbowl can make snow, that doesn’t prevent the Indians from holding religious ceremonies. It does, however, defile land that they hold sacred. That land, by the way, is now owned by the tribes or the resort, but the U.S. government.

Eric Borowsky, an owner of the resort, says “Every federal project is now going to be held hostage to any Native American saying, ‘Boy, that area is significant to me.'” Howard Shanker, a lawyer for the tribes, dismissed the claim that “we’re going to run out and claim every mountain to be holy.”