A bad week for Arizona Snowbowl

[ChrisC]

First, they are forced to close this past weekend.

Next they lose their Appeals case (heard on commute - sure Admin will soon have coverage). http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/03 ... _12_07.txt

Key finding.

In a 64-page decision, Judge William A. Fletcher of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the snowmaking scheme violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 and was akin to using wastewater in Christian baptisms.

"We are unwilling to hold that authorizing the use of artificial snow at an already functioning commercial ski area in order to expand and improve its facilities, as well as to extend its ski season in dry years, is a governmental interest 'of the highest order,"' Fletcher wrote for the three-judge panel, which heard arguments in September.

I like the an already functioning commercial ski area

How wonder how well any ski resort can function when they are open:
2004-05 139 days
2005-06 15 days
2006-07 30 (or so) days

With such variability, I do not see how any resort - ski or otherwise - could survive.

Although, it is the same court that found "the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools unconstitutional" in a case. Maybe, find a different court, like the Supreme to get the decision you want.

 

[SoCal Rider]

First, they are forced to close this past weekend.

Next they lose their Appeals case (heard on commute - sure Admin will soon have coverage). http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/03 ... _12_07.txt

Key finding.

In a 64-page decision, Judge William A. Fletcher of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the snowmaking scheme violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 and was akin to using wastewater in Christian baptisms.

"We are unwilling to hold that authorizing the use of artificial snow at an already functioning commercial ski area in order to expand and improve its facilities, as well as to extend its ski season in dry years, is a governmental interest 'of the highest order,"' Fletcher wrote for the three-judge panel, which heard arguments in September.

I like the an already functioning commercial ski area

How wonder how well any ski resort can function when they are open:
2004-05 139 days
2005-06 15 days
2006-07 30 (or so) days

With such variability, I do not see how any resort - ski or otherwise - could survive.

Although, it is the same court that found "the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools unconstitutional" in a case. Maybe, find a different court, like the Supreme to get the decision you want.

My employer cited on First Tracks, nice. Love that the AP story used the word "scheme." Double nice.

I know nothing about Arizona ski industry, but tribe-owned Sunrise Park makes snow, doesn't it? It must be in a, um, spiritually neutral location.

 

[Tony Crocker]

There was a very heated discussion on Epic last fall about the Arizona Snowbowl snowmaking controversy. So heated that the moderator moved it into the political/subscriber only section.

It started out with the environmental (MRG mentality?) purists who hate snowmaking on general principles. I pointed out that Snowbowl's basic parameters (2,100 vertical, 250 inches average snowfall) weren't that bad; its weather volatility is the issue. And if we're not going to have have snowmaking at an area like this, there's a long list of less worthy areas (like about 3/4 of those east of the Rockies) that could be closed down using the same criteria IMHO. And there really is minimal environmental impact due the source of reclaimed water that the city of Flagstaff uses in summer but not winter.

So the thread moved on to the topic of the Native American religious significance. This is a more subjective issue depending on how one feels about religion in general, Native Americans historically getting the shaft from the U.S. government, etc. I know what I and other ski fanatics would prefer, but I recognize that others may feel differently.

With regard to Sunrise Park, that tribe is Apache, as is the New Mexico tribe that runs Ski Apache near Ruidoso. The San Francisco Peaks are sacred to the Navajo, who have a completely different culture than the Apache. A more pastoral and pacifist culture that garners more widespread sympathy among environmentalists, and perhaps activist judges also.