Navajos file human-rights petition over Snowbowl resort

After repeatedly failing in federal courts to shut down the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort near Flagstaff, the Navajo Nation is now asking an international commission to declare the United States government in violation of human rights.

In a petition filed Monday with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the nation's largest Indian tribe alleges that mountainside snow-making with reclaimed wastewater constitutes a violation of religious freedom and cultural and judicial protections.

The commission, an autonomous arm of the Organization of American States, is a seven-member panel that promotes human rights in the American hemisphere. It has no legal authority over the U.S. government, but rulings may carry symbolic import.

The Navajo petition, prepared by faculty at the University of Arizona's Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program, acknowledges that domestic legal efforts to fight Snowbowl have failed because of rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts.

Snowbowl is a private concession on U.S. Forest Service land, nestled amid the San Francisco Peaks, an area regarded by Navajos as one of the four most sacred locations on Earth.

Through legal actions and protests, the tribe has sought for decades to shut down the resort, or stop the use of treated effluent in snow-making machines. The petition quotes unidentified medicine people who contend that desecration of the peak "throws the Navajo Life Way out of balance and weakens Navajo traditional healing ceremonies and prayers."

Rob Williams, one of the petition authors, said the Human Rights Commission has no recognized power over the United States, but the U.S. State Department typically participates in hearings.

The petition asks the commission to find against the U.S. and request cancellation of Snowbowl's snow-making permit. Williams said such a ruling would carry public-relations significance even though the U.S. government likely would not be responsive.

"This is about one of the most persecuted minority groups in the United States pleading for the right to practice its religion in a dominant society," he added. "Basically, we're arguing that the Supreme Court is so hostile to Indian rights that the commission should intercede."

A State Department statement said the U.S. has not yet received a petition on the matter from the commission. The statement added, "We believe the commission does important work in the region for the promotion and protection of human rights and will give any petition due consideration once we have received and reviewed it."

A Snowbowl official referred inquiries to a page on the resort's website that says manufactured snow is used on just one percent of the mountain. "The issue has been resolved by federal courts which have upheld the decision that snowmaking does not prevent anyone from practicing their religion," says the web notice.

The resort, founded in 1938, was purchased in November by Colorado-based investors who announced expansion plans.

Snowbowl in 2012 began manufacturing snow to extend its season and viability after a decade-long battle to obtain permits, overcome lawsuits and deal with demonstrations. In August, Flagstaff extended its 5-year wastewater-use contract with the resort to 20 years.

Snowbowl's website says snow-making occurs at 91 percent of the ski areas in the West, and use of reclaimed effluent is strictly regulated.