The operators of Arizona Snowbowl ski resort on the sacred San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, Arizona, cannot use treated sewage water to make snow, the 9^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today.

In a unanimous decision, the judges said there is no evidence that denying the operators of the Snowbowl the ability to use reclaimed wastewater for artificial snow would force the facility (on U.S. Forest Service land) to shut down. The Court ruled there is no “compelling governmental interest” in having artificial snow on the San Francisco Peaks. The judges found that the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act requires government agencies to use the “least restrictive” means of interfering with any religious practice. This overruling of a district court decision is one of the most important in recent years under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Judge William Fletcher wrote that, even assuming the federal religious protection law did not apply, the Forest Service improperly approved the permit. He said the Service did not consider whether there would be any danger to skiers who ingested snow made entirely from treated sewage water. The ruling states:

“The record in this case establishes the religious importance of the Peaks to the Appellant tribes who live around it. From time immemorial, they have relied on the Peaks, and the purity of the Peaks’ water, as an integral part of their religious beliefs. The Forest Service and the Snowbowl now propose to put treated sewage effluent on the Peaks. To get some sense of equivalence, it may be useful to imagine the effect on Christian beliefs and practices — and the imposition that Christians would experience — if the government were to require that baptisms be carried out with ‘reclaimed water.’”

Read our report on San Francisco Peaks. Read the Arizona Republic’s front page story.