Protecting Oak Flat from Copper Mines

 

Written by: Abby Stover


Photo: https://blogforarizona.net/oak-flat-kirkpatrick-stands-with-mccain-flake-gosar-salmon-schweikert-franks-video/


In 1872, a small piece of land near current-day Phoenix, was designated as a reservation by President Grant.  It had been decided that this land would be the forever home of the Yavapai and the Chiricahua Apache Peoples.  Prior to this, these people had lived nomadically, never settling in one place, but following buffalo as they migrated each season.  The conditions on this land, the San Carlos reservation, were so poor that it was known as Hell’s Forty Acres.  While they did not end up living long-term on this land, the San Carlos Apache have remained fierce defenders of this space that was dedicated for their religious use.  One of the sacred spaces on this land is known to them as Chich’il Bildagoteel, or “Oak Flat” in English.  Oak Flat is where the San Carlos Apache still hold their coming-of-age ceremonies and gather annually to collect acorns.  This space is deeply embedded especially in the young people’s identities and crucial for their spiritual guidance.  It is a mentor and a member of their family.

However, this cultural landscape has been threatened since 1955, when President Eisenhower closed the Oak Flat area for mining and opened the rest of the reservation to the public.  The Apache and others have been able to continue visiting and holding their traditional gatherings here since then, but recently that public access began to come to an end.  For years, pro-mining congressmen had attempted to sell this land, without success.  But in 2014, a military spending bill was up for sure approval in Congress, and with only one hour to review the 1600-page bill, very few noticed or understood the rider that John McCain had hidden within it, opening up Oak Flat for private ownership.  While fine-print riders like this aren’t uncommon, The New York Times labelled this one, “An impressive new low in congressional corruption” (sacredland).  Luckily, this land transfer was not immediate, due to a legal process requiring an Environmental Impact Statement, which would take several years to complete.

Since then, a mining corporation called Rio Tinto, and its subsidiary Resolution Copper, have been planning the extraction of North America’s largest known deposit of copper, which lies just under the surface of Oak Flat.  The method of mining they are proposing for this area is called “blockade mining”, which would use explosives to create a massive cavity underground the depth of the Eiffel Tower.  The purpose of creating such a huge cavity, is so that the entire land surface will gradually fall into the hole where they can extract the copper from the broken ground.  Not only would this completely destroy the sacred lands of Oak Flat for any future use after mining is completed, it would pollute the surrounding areas and permanently devastate the local economy in the years to follow.

Rio Tinto claims this mining project would provide jobs for people, including the underemployed San Carlos Apache, and stimulate the economy by providing one-quarter of the country’s copper supply.  However, other nearby mining areas have since become ghost towns, mining companies moving on once the sought-after ore is depleted.  The Oak Flat area has several popular campgrounds, hiking trails, and scenic opportunities which attract thousands of tourists. The cliffs at Oak Flat are an extremely popular site for the local rock-climbing communities, and it is the site of several annual climbing and bouldering competitions.  Rio Tinto uses the proposed mining profits to garner support from locals, but the fact is that outdoor recreation profits in this area exceed 10 billion dollars annually, more than double what could be gained from mining the copper.  This type of mining would result in the “largest loss of rock climbing on public lands in U.S. history” (earthworks). 

While the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process takes several years, it was recently pushed through by Donald Trump in one of his last approval tasks before leaving office this January.  The Apache Tribe has since filed a lawsuit against the United States for failing to thoroughly investigate the environmental impacts related to this mining project.  They are calling the final Statement a sham.  In February, the Tribe asked a federal judge to stop the mining project and last week, Joe Biden called rescinded Trump’s previous approval for the project.  The Biden Administration and the USDA is calling for a review of the EIS and for more consultation with local tribes which would be affected.

This last-minute rescission is a temporary victory, however, because the land at Oak Flat is still not protected from future use or sale.  Arizona’s House Representative Raul Grijalva has been attempting to repeal the Flat Oak section of the National Defense Act since its approval in 2014.  Now is the first time since then, that the House of Representatives has been Democratically controlled, so he is hopeful to make progress.  He is reintroducing a Save Oak Flat Act which would protect the area from private use at any time in the future.

 


Sources:

https://www.indianz.com/News/2021/03/01/san-carlos-apache-tribe-cheers-right-move-to-protect-sacred-site-from-copper-mine/

https://www.indianz.com/News/2021/03/04/cronkite-news-biden-administration-puts-halt-to-mine-at-sacred-apache-site/

https://sacredland.org/oak-flat-united-states/

https://www.earthworks.org/stories/oak_flat_apache_leap/


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