Hopi to sue Forest Service

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Late Tuesday evening, the Hopi Tribal Council authorized the tribe to pursue legal action against the U.S. Forest Service to protect the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff from the proposed Arizona Snowbowl expansion.

On June 24, DNA People's Legal Services Inc. on behalf of the Hualapai Tribe, Navajo Medicine Man Norris Nez, and Hopi leader, Bill Bucky Preston, filed a complaint in U.S. District Court alleging three potential adverse impacts from Alternative 2 of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), chosen as the preferred alternative by the U.S. Forest Service.

In addition, they claim the FEIS admitted that a portion of those impacts are irreversible; that all written communication to tribes and Native Americans was provided only in the English language and that "despite explicit requests to do so, those documents were never translated by the Forest Service into any Native American language, whether written or by audio- or videotape."

Also, they claim that Defendant Nora Rasure, forest supervisor, failed to accommodate and extend the 60-day public comment period on the Draft EIS, and that the defendants Forest Service, Rasure, and Harv Forsgren, regional forester violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by selecting Alternative 2.

They allege the defendants' actions are not in accordance with the federal government's trust responsibilities to tribes and Native Americans and violate the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and three executive orders from the National Forest Management Act the Forest Service's own regulations.

Hopi Chairman Wayne Taylor Jr., expressed his "deep disappointment" last month when the Forest Service's regional office upheld Rasure's earlier decision to expand the Arizona Snowbowl.

"It is our duty and obligation to protect and preserve the spiritual integrity of 'Nuvatukyaovi' (San Francisco Peaks) as an afforded right of our First Amendment freedoms and we will never cease our efforts to defend our beliefs, religious and cultural properties," Taylor said.

Tuesday's action by the Hopi Tribal Council gives official sanction to the lawsuit filed June 30 naming the U.S. Forest Service as a defendant and seeking to overturn the decision regarding the expansion.

Leigh Kuwanwisiwma, director of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office, endorsed the tribal council's decision. He previously has described the Forest Service action as an "attack on our place of worship."

Following Tuesday's action, Kuwanwisiwma said, "This step by the Hopi Tribal Council to pursue legal action shows a continuity of support and unity for the ongoing Snowbowl expansion issue by the tribal government and religious leaders. ...Their actions are very much appreciated by the Hopi people."

The Hopi believe the expansion will severely impact their ability to maintain their continued spiritual connection to the Peaks.

In the lawsuit filed by DNA, the plaintiffs allege the Forest Service failed to consider alternatives other than the chosen action "that in fact the process was a confirmation of a predetermined decision, and no alternatives other than one that contained snowmaking were truly considered."

The action as proposed would "substantially burden" the Plaintiff's religion by adding reclaimed wastewater to the mountain which would contain trace amounts of cadavers, human blood, feces, urine, pharmaceuticals, and a number of other materials, thus causing irreversible harm, DNA charged.

Levon Henry, executive director of the agency, said, "The focus of our complaint is to preserve sacred places for all tribes. The Forest Service should respect Native American religion. Their decision to go forward clearly demonstrates their focus is on economic gain not on respect of our traditions," Henry said.

The complaint states that Navajo elder Norris Nez, 75, a respected, practicing Navajo medicine man living near Tuba City, does not speak, read or write English and does not have or use a personal computer, "as is the situation with a great number of Navajo ... many of whom are likewise without telephones or access to the Internet and do not have personal vehicles."

The complaint also makes similar statements regarding Hualapai elders and Bill Bucky Preston, who resides in the Hopi Village of Walpi.