The University of Arizona may be facing another obstacle in the completion of its Mount Graham International Observatory.

The latest question in a decade-long battle over the project,which is about 75 miles northeast of Tucson in the Coronado National Forest, concerns the official recognition of the mountain's status as a place of historic significance.

A statement issued Friday by the President's Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the executive agency that oversees compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act, states:

"There is no evidence that the Forest Service has addressed the potential that Mount Graham is a traditional, cultural property, eligible for inclusion in the National Register (of Historic Places) in considering the new telescope site."

As a result of the statement, Forest Service officials are consulting with their attorneys to determine what will be done.

"The Forest Service must get a determination of whether Mount Graham is eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places," said Elizabeth Merritt, independent legal council for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

"The problem is, the Forest Service refuses to submit the research," she said.

The Forest Service is required by law to submit any documents that may indicate a culturally or historically significant place has been found on its property, Merritt said.

Opposition groups view the council's statement as a step toward victory in the ongoing battle against the university.

Members of the Maricopa Audubon Society and the Student Environmental Action Coalition have been criticizing the UA for several years for ignoring the cultural and religious significance of Mount Graham to San Carlos Apache Indians.

Ola Cassadore Davis, an Apache Indian and member of the Apache Survival Coalition, said in a press release, "Mount Graham, which we call Dzil Nchoa Si An , or 'Big Seated Mountain,' has been of great spiritual and cultural importance to the Apaches since time immemorial."

Anne Carl and David Hodges of SEAC-Southwest said they just want to see the UA conform to all the laws relating to the mountain.

In 1988, the Arizona-Idaho Conservation Act waived some requirements of the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Protection Act for the UA. These exemptions allowed the telescope project to move forward without completing the usual impact studies.

However, Michael Cusanovich, vice president for research and graduate studies, said the UA completed all the required studies, including a full environmental impact study.

Michael Nixon, attorney for the Apache Survival Coalition, said those exemptions do not include waiving the requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act.

"The Forest Service is the one under the obligation to comply with the act," Nixon said, "but it's in the UA's best interest to have the Forest Service comply, because the UA's land use permit includes a clause calling for cessation of work if cultural finds turn up."

The advisory council statement was sent to Forest Supervisor John McGee. He only said, "I can't comment right now. Forest Service lawyers are reviewing the matter."

Two telescopes, the Vatican Observatory and the Submillimeter Telescope, are already in use on Mount Graham. The UA is constructing a third - the Large Binocular Telescope.

Cusanovich said the new report will not affect the project.

"There's nothing to comply with. There was no request to file for a historic site, and even if it is named a historic site, it won't effect the telescopes," he said.

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