Oak Flat: Trump’s Final Middle Finger to the Environment
As Trump’s term comes to a dramatic close, the administration’s last minute effort to rush through multiple mining projects that pose a grave environmental risk is lost in the headlines
By Raul DIEGO
Buried deep in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2015, section 3003 calls for the expeditious facilitation of a land exchange agreement between Resolution Copper Mining, LLC and the United States government to create one of the largest and deepest copper mines in the country, spanning nearly 11,000 square miles of national forest terrain and penetrating 7,000 miles into beneath the surface of the earth.
The U.S. Forest Service published the final environmental impact statement and draft record of decision Friday on a controversial land swap that would clear the way for a huge copper mine beneath Oak Flat, a site that s sacred to many Apaches and culturally significant to other tribes.
The document release starts the clock running on a 60-day timeframe for the final conveyance of more than 2,400 acres of national forest land to Resolution Copper, which will hand over about 5,300 acres of private land in exchange.
Tribal representatives and environmentalists were both outraged by the move, which they say was fast-tracked to avoid coming under a fresh review after President-elect Joe Biden takes office Wednesday.
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Buried deep in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2015, section 3003 calls for the expeditious facilitation of a land exchange agreement between Resolution Copper Mining, LLC and the United States government to create one of the largest and deepest copper mines in the country, spanning nearly 11,000 square miles of national forest terrain and penetrating 7,000 miles into beneath the surface of the earth.
The land swap specifically targets approximately 2,500 acres that are not already owned by the mining concern and which rest inside Apache hallowed ground known as Oak Flat in the Tonto National Forest in central Arizona. Considered sacred by the Apache and other First Nation peoples who still use the land they call