How Apache Stronghold’s fight to protect Oak Flat in central Arizona has played out over the years
PHOENIX — Oak Flat, a swath of national forest land in central Arizona, is at the center of a years-long battle between Native American groups and mining interests that both see it as important to their future.
Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of international mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP, wants to develop the large deposit of copper ore deep beneath Oak Flat into a huge mine. The nonprofit Apache Stronghold considers the land sacred and says it should be preserved for religious ceremonies.
In a major blow to Apache Stronghold, a divided federal court panel voted 6-5 on Friday to affirm a lower court’s denial of a preliminary injunction to halt the transfer of land for the project.
Apache Stronghold says it will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Here’s how the fight has played out over the years:
November 2013: Resolution Copper introduces its first comprehensive action plan for a proposed mine at Oak Flat.
December 12, 2014: The U.S. Senate passes a military spending bill that included the Oak Flat land swap, which gave national forest ownership to mining companies for the development of America’s largest copper mine. A compliant rider called on Resolution Copper to get 3.75 square miles (9.71 square kilometers) of forest land in exchange for eight parcels it owns in Arizona.
March 4, 2016: The Forest Service adds Oak Flat to the National Register of Historic Places. Arizona Republican Congressman Paul Gosar and Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick opposes the historic site designation, with Gosar saying it “sabotages an important mining effort.”
May 24, 2020: A Rio Tinto iron mining project destroys two rock shelters inhabited by indigenous people for 46,000 years in Juukan Gorge in Western Australia state, prompting the resignation of the company’s CEO.
January 12, 2021: Apache Stronghold sues the federal government, saying the Forest Service cannot legally transfer land to Rio Tinto for several parcels the company owns and maintains. The land around Oak Flat was reserved for Western Apaches in an 1852 treaty with the US
February 12, 2021: A federal judge denies the request to prevent the Forest Service from transferring the land to Resolution Copper. saying that because Apache Stronghold is not a federally recognized tribe, it has no standing to claim the land belongs to the Apaches.
March 1, 2021: The U.S. Department of Agriculture withdraws an environmental study that paved the way for the land swap, saying it needed more time to consult with Native American tribes and others.
October 21, 2021: Apache Stronghold asks a three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals to block Rio Tinto from getting the Oak Flat property. Months later, the panel makes a 2-1 decision that the federal government can give the Oak Flat land to Rio Tinto, but then agrees to let a larger appeals panel hear the case.
March 21, 2023: Apache Stronghold tells a full panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the Resolution Project would prevent Native American groups from practicing their religion by destroying land they consider sacred. The 11-member panel says it will make a decision in the coming months.
March 1, 2024: An 11-member “en banc” panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals votes 6-5 to reject a lower court’s denial of a preliminary injunction halting the transfer of land for the project.