FLAGSTAFF — The lawsuit involving snowmaking filed by the Hopi Tribe against the City of Flagstaff was dismissed by the Coconino County Superior Court on Friday, August 12, 2016.
Originally filed in 2011, all three claims in the Hopi Tribe’s lawsuit against the City were dismissed in 2012. However, that dismissal was later appealed and sent back to Superior Court in 2013 for litigation on one claim: public nuisance. In 2014, the City named the Arizona Snowbowl as a “non-party at fault” in the lawsuit, because Snowbowl is the entity that actually does snowmaking on a portion of the San Francisco Peaks.
The case was postponed extensively while the City and the Hopi Tribe worked toward settlement. Settlement did not occur.
In February 2016, Snowbowl filed a motion to dismiss. On August 12, 2016, the Superior Court granted Snowbowl’s motion to dismiss. The Court reasoned that because the Hopi Tribe’s lawsuit did not set forth actual harm to the environment, and because the Hopi Tribe shares “the same right of access to and enjoyment of the Peaks wilderness” as the public, the Hopi Tribe does not have grounds to bring the lawsuit. The Hopi Tribe’s lawsuit is dismissed.