Apache Stronghold forces U.S. government retreat
APACHE STRONGHOLD MAKES U.S. GOVERNMENT RETREAT CAUSING 9th CIRCUIT DENIAL OF EMERGENCY INJUNCTION
CASE STILL PROCEEDS ON EXPEDITED BASIS
Apache Stronghold activists opposing copper mine gather outside the Arizona Chamber of Commerce in Feb. 2020.
OAK FLAT, AZ This afternoon [March 5] the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied Apache Stronghold’s appeal of U.S. District Court Judge Steven Logan’s Feb. 12, 2021, ruling. The Appellate Court refused to grant Apache Stronghold’s request on a 2-1 vote because of the Forest Service’s last-minute March 1, 2021, withdrawal of the Final Environmental Impact Statement. Prior to this withdrawal, the giveaway of Oak Flat would have happened by March 11, 2021. The Appellate Court fell for this Forest Service ploy although Appellate Judge Bumatay observed, “The Supreme Court recently suggested we do not acquiesce to such tactics.”
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This story was originally published by the Guardian
as part of their two-year series, This Land is Your Land, examining the threats facing America’s public lands, with support from the Society of Environmental Journalists, and is republished by permission.
The Biden administration has put the brakes on a controversial land exchange that would have given a sacred Native American site to a multinational mining company by March 11.
Parts of the handover had been rushed to completion in the waning days of the Trump administration, in an effort to give Resolution Copper control over Arizona’s Oak Flat region before or soon after Trump left office. Oak Flat sits atop one of the largest untapped copper deposits in the world, estimated to be worth more than $1 billion.
SUPERIOR, Ariz. (RNS) The Apache believe Oak Flat is a 'blessed place' where Ga’an guardians or messengers between the people and Usen, Creator God dwell. The site is at risk of being turned over to an Australian mining company.