SAN FRANCISCO - A US official denied on Thursday an appeal that would have blocked the expansion of a ski resort on a mountain sacred to Native Americans, sparking angry condemnation from the leader of the largest US tribe.
The official overseeing forests in US Southwest declined to reconsider a decision that will allow the expansion of the privately operated Arizona Snowbowl ski resort, which is located on US federal land about 2-1/2 hours from Phoenix.
The decision by Southwestern Regional Forester Harv Forsgren could lure more skiers to the mountain by allowing the resort to make artificial snow from waste water and spread it on the sacred mountain.
"To Native Americans, desecrating the San Francisco Peaks with wastewater is like flushing the Koran down the toilet," Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. said in a statement. "The federal government is ignoring the pleas and wishes of the native people."
About 300,000 people live in Navajo Nation, the largest US reservation, spanning Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
"This decision does not preclude the continued use of the San Francisco Peaks for religious beliefs and practices, and does not violate First Amendment rights," said the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service.
"The overall purpose and need for the projects is to provide a consistent/reliable operating season, and to improve safety, skiing conditions, and recreational opportunities."
The dispute over the 777-acre (310-hectare) Arizona Snowbowl resort located outside Flagstaff, Arizona, is one of many over the years in which US economic interests have clashed with Native Americas over sites considered sacred.
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