Native American Leaders Call for Boycott of Ski Resort Expansion

May 19, 2005

Source: New California Media

http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=6613efc1dea421c6114a7dd2f5ce5d6f

On May 19, 2005 New California Media reported, "Navajo and Hopi tribal leaders and activists are calling for a boycott of the Arizona Snowbowl Ski Area, which has been approved by the Coconino Forest Service to expand its development of the sacred mountain 'San Francisco Peaks.'

The Peaks is located in Northern Arizona, near the small, reservation border-town of Flagstaff. It is held sacred by more than 13 Native American tribes, which revere it as the home of their deities. For tribes like the Navajo and Hopi, the mountain is central to their ways of life. It is a place to gather special herbs and it is also a unique ecological island, home to alpine tundra, old growth forests and more than 200 distinctive species.

For decades, concerned residents, environmental groups and tribal and spiritual leaders have clashed with the Coconino National Forest Service, which manages the Peaks, over a multiple-use mandate that has resulted in the development of the Arizona Snowbowl Ski Area."