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Arizona Snowbowl should go green not gray

Gray water for snowmaking vs. following nature’s laws

By Suzy Chaffee, founder of Native Voices Foundation

Sedona, AZ - In March 2007, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco halted a plan by the Arizona Snowbowl, a small ski resort operating on federal land on the slopes of the San Francisco Peaks in Northern Arizona, from using treated waste water to make artificial snow.  The reason: the San Francisco Peaks are considered sacred by more than 13 Native American Nations who say the use of waste water would destroy and desecrate the land and violate their rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.  Sadly, however, the 9th Circuit agreed to rehear the case.

But why does the Arizona Snowbowl need to make artificial snow?

According to the "Climate History of Flagstaff, Arizona - 1950 to 2007" by Richard Hereford, Scientist Emeritus, U.S. Geological Survey Flagstaff, since 1985 the annual snowfall for Flagstaff was below 100 inches per year for only 9 out of the last 23 years.  What's alarming is that 7 of those 9 years have all been since 1999.  Although the report noted that a long-term trend of accumulated snowfall is not evident, it did say that Flagstaff is becoming warmer and drier.

Could the reason for the lack of snowfall be that we are way out of balance with nature? The Snowbowl is next door to Flagstaff, which has mushroomed to 57,000 residents, more than doubling in the last 30 years, and is up the road from a US smog leader, Phoenix/ Scottsdale, with its 70 golf courses sprayed with herbicides and pesticides.

According to Matthew Turner (Hopi-Seminole-French), founder of Green Sedona, who rallied 70 Sedona, AZ businesses to help rid Sedona's main artery 89A of herbicides, "The gaseous VOCs (hydrocarbons) from [herbicide and pesticide] spraying are major contributors to the smog, in addition to containing “dioxins,” which can cause cancer and DNA-mutations in man, wildlife and our water, including our aquifers, for up to 15 years.  Is this sane sustainable thinking?”

The Arizona Snowbowl is forgetting that toxins from the gray water could further jeopardize their ability to generate natural snow long term. “More Americans want to use gray water because they may not fully understand it,” says Kesner Flores (Cortina Band of Wintun Indians of California), associate member of the National Tribal Environmental Council, and tribal eco consultant who has worked with the EPA of California and Arizona. "Treatment plants cannot filter out synthetic pharmaceuticals with growth hormones, endocrine disruptors (control every body function), and a slew of others, as it is too costly and technically challenging. That is why the natural approach and the precautionary principles are what the tribes strive for. Product manufacturers, ski and golf resorts may not like this at first, but the planetary cost is too much. Mankind’s future depends on going back to following Nature’s Laws.”

Yet the Snowbowl still could be heroes to Arizonans, nature, the tribes, the Snow Gods, and their investors by showing golf course managers, especially in Flagstaff, the financial incentives of going green: reduced costs for water, energy, pesticides/herbicides, fertilizers, equipment wear, labor, insurance premiums, worker safety, as well as reduced legal liability by switching to organic products and reducing problems associated with storing, handling and applying chemicals; along with happier, healthier skiers, golfers and wildlife.

Suzy Chaffee is a former Olympic skier and World Freestyle Champion, and the founder of the Native Voices Foundation, a non-profit organization that seeks to invite Native Americans back to their majestic ancestral mountains for skiing and honoring celebrations.
 

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