By Greg Clark
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 16, 1997

San Carlos Apache man faces fines for trespassing

Photo Courtesy/Student Environmental Action Coalition Wendsler Nosie participates in a sacred event on Mount Graham in 1995. Last month Nosie, who said he was praying, was arrested by UAPD for allegedly trespassing near UA telescopes on Mount Graham.

A member of the San Carlos Apache tribe pleaded innocent to charges of third-degree criminal trespassing on UA-owned property on Mount Graham.

Wendsler Nosie entered the plea Sept. 8 in Safford Justice Court.

Nosie was detained by U.S. Forest Service officials and University of Arizona police as he descended from a site near Emerald Peak, where, he said, he had gone to pray.

Emerald Peak is the controversial site of the Mount Graham International Observatory where the UA is building the world's largest optical telescope. It is also the site of the 1,750-acre Red Squirrel refugium, an area set aside to protect the endangered Mount Graham Red Squirrel.

The mountain is held sacred by Apaches, who believe it is the home to divine mountain spirits, called Crown Dancers, Nosie said.

"I was following my religion the way I have for 20 years, the way my forefathers have before me," Nosie said. "For centuries we have been praying on our sacred mountain, it is an outrage for the university to punish me for practicing my religion."

According to Nosie he had gone to the area near Emerald Peak to pray for his daughter, who is approaching the menstrual age and will soon go through an important transition ceremony.

"We gave life to our daughter, and she is going to give life again as time goes on. My responsibility as a father is to protect that and ensure the process continues," he said. "It is my responsibility to help her through the changes and prepare the whole family for what is to come, and pray for the mountain spirits to guide her," he said.

Nosie said he felt good after completing his prayers the afternoon of Aug. 30, but a fierce monsoon was approaching, and he wanted to hurry down the mountain. He got onto the dirt access road leading down the mountain from the observatory, and was found by U.S. Forest Service rangers, he said.

"The rangers explained that I had been in the refugium and gave me a warning," Nosie said, "But they said they would work with me, and I could get a permit if I needed to enter the area again."

The area around Emerald Peak summit is federally protected under the Endangered Species Act. Entry to the site is limited to those who have been issued a permit by the Forest Service and agreed not to disturb the Red Squirrel or its habitat, said Carrie Templin, recreation and public affairs spokeswoman for the Forest Service.

Charles C. LaBenz Arizona Daily Wildcat With the high elevation and winter snowfall on Mt. Graham, construction of the telescope has become seasonal.

Templin said the Forest Service issues squirrel permits to people who want to visit Mount Graham to practice their religious beliefs.

"If somebody wants to go up the mountain to pray, we will issue a permit for that purpose," Templin said. "There have been times when people wanted to gather specific types of plants, not available anywhere else, for religious purposes. We issued them permits," Templin said.

Nosie, though released by the Forest Service, was arrested and cited on trespassing charges by UA police on Mount Graham. The access road is part of 8.6 acres the Forest Service leases to the UA for the observatory.

"I wasn't aware I couldn't be on the road, that all this was off-limits," Nosie said. "I could see the 'No Trespassing' signs, but a hail storm was coming and I just wanted to get down."

But both Templin and Jim Slagle, assistant director of the Large Binocular Telescope, who coordinates construction on the observatory site, said Nosie was aware of the rules.

Nosie has been active for years in protests against the telescope project, and is familiar with the site boundaries and the processes by which visits can be arranged, Slagle said.

Nosie said his detention and citation violate promises the UA made early in the telescope project to respect Apache people and allow them to pray and meditate on the summit.

But Sharon Kha, assistant to the UA president, said the university is doing all it can to respect Apache religious practices. The UA allows arranged visits to the summit for religious purposes but is suspicious of unannounced trespassers because there have been threats to the telescopes.

"That weekend we were particularly concerned because there were people in the area who have said they intend to make us build the telescope twice," Kha said.

She was referring to reports to UA police that members of the Student Environmental Action Coalition and Earth First! were camping on Mount Graham during the Labor Day weekend.

Tucsonan Jamie Hogue also was arrested by UA police along with Nosie. After initially denying she knew Nosie, Hogue admitted last week they were friends.

When asked if she was a member of Earth First! or the Student Environmental Action Coalition, Hogue declined to answer, though she said she was camping near members of those groups.

UA police are stationed on Mount Graham to protect against legitimate threats to the telescopes there, Slagle said.

"I have $3 million worth of construction equipment up there, and have to carry liability insurance on it," he said.

Nosie faces fines of up to $500 and a maximum 30-day jail term if convicted of the trespassing charge. A trial date has not been set.

The UA's refusal to drop the criminal charge shows the institution does not care about American Indian beliefs, Nosie said.

"Now I see what the university said about working with the Apaches is false," he said. "I was simply doing something I have done since I was a young man, something my people have been doing for centuries. If I have to go to jail for my religious beliefs, I will."