Arizona Central
Associated Press
05 January 2009

FLAGSTAFF—American Indian tribes are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower court's decision that allows for snowmaking on an Arizona peak the tribes consider sacred.

The tribes met Monday's deadline for an appeal in the Arizona Snowbowl case.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco cleared the way for the snowmaking last August after a years-long court battle. 

The appeals court granted a request to delay any construction at the ski resort near Flagstaff until the high court decides if it will hear the tribes' appeal.

The tribes, in their petition to the high court, contend that allowing snowmaking on the San Francisco Peaks would violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The Supreme Court takes only about 1 percent of the cases it receives.