Appeals Court Declines to Reconsider Oak Flat Land Transfer, Conservation Groups Vow Continued Legal Battle
A federal appeals court has denied a petition from conservation groups and Tribal advocates to reconsider a March decision that allowed the transfer of Arizona’s Oak Flat to the Resolution Copper mining company. The ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals means a larger panel of judges will not revisit the split decision. This decision clears the way for the transfer of over 2,400 acres of public land, part of the Tonto National Forest, to Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of multinational mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP. Oak Flat, located approximately 60 miles east of Phoenix, holds significant religious and cultural importance for the San Carlos Apache Tribe and other Tribal Nations. It also serves as a habitat for threatened and endangered species and is widely used for outdoor recreation such as camping and climbing. The proposed block-cave mining operation by Resolution Copper is projected to permanently destroy the site, creating a massive crater and depleting regional groundwater supplies....
