Navajo Elders teach that manmade snow is a manipulation of nature, which should not be mimicked by man. The deities control the nature cycle of the weather and seasons, and should not be mocked. Navajos and non-Navajos share a responsibility to care for these sacred places. Even if governments do not demonstrate responsibility towards the Peaks, the Navajo government and people and others will continue to honor this scared place to preserve the Navajo Life Way.
March 9 2012: Ski Resort to Begin Making Snow Early “”We’re having the longer, warmer days, and we’re not getting any help from Mother Nature,” Snowbowl General Manager J.R. Murray said.”
March 19, 2012: Mother Nature & The Deities Deliver Over 3 feet of snow to the peaks before the spring solstice.
The development of the Ski Resort on the San Francisco Peaks has been a contentious issue in Northern Arizona for decades. The Northern Arizona Co-Operative hopes the community can look at many different aspects of the issue including economic, environmental & religious concerns in a constructive manner. We hope to present both sides of the controversy inorder to better understand each sides key arguments and compare points of view on economic, environmental & religious beliefs.
2007: Judge denies claim the snowmaking is desecration on MSNBC
2005: The Snowbowl Effect Documentary
1972: The “Save the Peaks” fight was a decade-long struggle, originally pitting local citizens against Summit Properties and its parent corporation, the Post Company. The object of the controversy was a 350-acre parcel of land in the Hart Prairie area of the San Francisco Peaks. In the early 1970’s, local Flagstaff citizens united to prevent the company’s proposed development of the Hart Prairie acreage. Arguments for development included economic growth and jobs for Flagstaff, while opponents argued environmental concerns and religious beliefs of native peoples. During the course of the controversy, the citizens of Flagstaff and Summit Properties became allies against the United States Forest Service (USFS).
Both groups felt the USFS, guardians of American public forest lands, extended the “Save the Peaks” controversy for many years by neither cooperating nor negotiating in good faith with
either the citizens of Flagstaff or Summit Properties.
1969: Summit Properties announced its intention to develop a “ski village” on Hart Prairie below SnowBowl. “SnowBowl Village” was to be a 325-acre plot much like Vail or Aspen, Colorado, with restaurants, shops, and lodges near the base of a 5,800-ft. chairlift leading to SnowBowl. It would also include condos, apartments, vacations homes, and even a “championship golf course.”