Oak Flat (Arizona)

Oak Flat (Western Apache: Chíchʼil Bił Dagoteel, Navajo: Chéchʼil Bił Dahoteel) is in Pinal County about 40 miles (64 km) east of Phoenix in the Tonto National Forest, a high desert setting at 3,900 feet (1,200 m) elevation. The land is sacred to Native Americans from the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation and many other Arizona tribes. Oak Flat has been subject to attempts by the federal government to sell it to mining interests since 2002, against the wishes of the San Carlos Apache tribe. This federally-protected area is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and features a National Forest Service public campground. The landscape includes Apache Leap cliff, the mesa of Oak Flat, and Devil's Canyon (Apaches refer to it as Ga'an Canyon, or "Angels Canyon"), all of which have long been popular with hikers, birders, climbers, off-roaders, hunters, and members of the area's indigenous tribes.

Oak Flat (Arizona)
Apache Leap cliff
LocationTonto National Forest
Coordinates33.308°N 111.047°W / 33.308; -111.047
Chíchʼil Bił Dagoteel (Oak Flat Campground)
Emory oak trees at Oak Flat
LocationTonto National Forest
NRHP reference No.16000002
Added to NRHPMarch 4, 2016

Mine controversy

Resolution Copper Mining, LLC [RCM], a joint venture owned by Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, has proposed conducting underground mining of a copper-molybdenum deposit located 5,000 to 7,000 feet (1,500 to 2,100 m) below the ground surface. The company estimates that the mine would take approximately 10 years to construct and would have an operational life of approximately 40 years which would be followed by 5 to 10 years of reclamation activities.[1]:B-5 President Barack Obama signed the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), to which McCain and Flake attached the Oak Flat bill. The Act cleared the way for the land swap in which Resolution Copper would receive 2,422 acres (980 ha) of National Forest land in exchange for deeding to the federal government 5,344 acres (2,163 ha) of private land.[2] An independent appraisal of the exchanged lands found that the value of lands Resolution Copper has offered for Oak Flat is about $7 million, while the Oak Flat parcel is valued at over $112 billion.

McCain and Flake's rider was Section 3003 of the NDAA, titled "Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act", which would allow RCM to develop and operate an underground copper mine 7,000 ft (2,100 m) deep (approximately five Empire State buildings) in the publicly owned Tonto National Forest near Superior, Arizona. The mine would excavate an area set aside in 1955 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower during an expansion of the Tonto National Forest. The land contains more than 2,400 acres (970 ha) of the Oak Flat Campground, an area dotted with petroglyphs and historic and prehistoric sites.[3] The former San Carlos Apache tribal chairman Wendsler Nosie Sr. said of the Act's rider: “This is Congressional politics at its worse, a hidden agenda that destroys human rights and religious rights."[4]

The San Carlos Apache Tribe, under the leadership of Chairman Terry Rambler, has led a strong opposition to the RCM land exchange. Both the National Audubon Society in Tucson and the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club in Arizona along with the National Congress of American Indians have joined in the fight to Resolution's land grab.[3] Native American groups and conservationists worry about the impact to surrounding areas, including the steep cliffs at Apache Leap.[5] James Anaya, former United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, said that without community and tribal support, Rio Tinto should abandon its Resolution Copper mining project.[6] United States Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said she was "profoundly disappointed with the Resolution Copper provision, which has no regard for lands considered sacred by nearby Indian tribes".[7]

Apache tribal members testifying at a United States House Committee on Natural Resources hearing about Oak Flat in 2020.

By January 2015, over 104,000 had signed a petition to President Obama titled "We the People|Stop Apache Land Grab". Jodi Gillette, Special Assistant to the President for Native American Affairs, quickly gave an official White House response, vowing that the Obama Administration would work with Resolution Copper's parent company Rio Tinto to determine how to work with the tribes to preserve their sacred areas.[8]

In March 2016, the Forest Service added Oak Flat to the National Register of Historic Places.[9][10] Arizona Republican Congressman Paul Gosar, who has characterized the dispute with the San Carlos Apache as "bogus," condemned the Historic Places designation by the Obama Administration and the Forest Service as "sabotaging an important mining effort."[11]

The project has not met all federal surface water and groundwater requirements, yet the Forest Service under the Trump administration is rushing the environmental analysis despite the extreme impacts described according to a draft environmental impact statement released in late 2019 by the U.S. Forest Service. This report did not include adequate studies of impacts to the area nor did it consider any alternatives to the plans for a very destructive mine. In protest, hundreds of Apache tribe members and supporters walked for four days in February 2020 from San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation to Oak Flat, a distance of 45 miles (72 km). The march was sixth in an annual series.[12]

References
  1. Apache Leap Special Management Area Management Plan (PDF). United States Department of Agriculture: Forest Service: Tonto National Forest: Globe Ranger District (Report). August 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  2. Arizona Geology, “Resolution copper land swap bill signed into law,” 23 Dec. 2014.
  3. "San Carlos Apache Tribe Announces Towns of Superior and Queen Valley Join Opposition to H.R. 687 Southeast Conservation and Land Exchange Act of 2013". NewsRx. April 7, 2013.
  4. "Once Again, The Fight for Religious Freedom in America Begins". The Apache Messenger. December 22, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  5. Bregel, Emily (December 11, 2014). "Apache Tribe Distressed by Privatization of Sacred Land". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
  6. Anaya, James (December 28, 2014). "Copper Mine Will Hurt Tribes and the Environment". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
  7. U.S. Department of the Interior (December 9, 2014). "Statement by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015". Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  8. "White House Responds to 'Stop Apache Land Grab' Petition". Indian Country Today Media Network. January 13, 2015. Archived from the original on January 15, 2015. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  9. "Oak Flats Listed on National Register of Historic Places". DAILY KOS. March 11, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  10. Chí’chil Biłdagoteel Historic District (PDF) (Report). National Park Service: National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. United States Forest Service. December 2, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  11. "Congressman Gosar Claims Oak Flat Has Never Been a Sacred Site, Wants to Kick Out Apache Stronghold Protesters". Tucson Daily. March 16, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  12. O'Brien, Brendan (February 28, 2020). "Apache tribe marches to protect sacred Arizona site from copper mine". Reuters. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
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