{"id":5197,"date":"2020-11-27T16:03:09","date_gmt":"2020-11-27T21:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=5197"},"modified":"2020-11-27T16:04:06","modified_gmt":"2020-11-27T21:04:06","slug":"cronkite-news-trump-administration-eyes-action-on-mine-at-sacred-apache-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/11\/27\/cronkite-news-trump-administration-eyes-action-on-mine-at-sacred-apache-site\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Trump administration eyes action on mine at sacred Apache site"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\n\t\t\tSave Oak Flat | Naelyn Pike | US Capitol\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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\u201cThe fight is here and now and I\u2019m so ready for you\u201d: During a rally at the U.S. Capitol on March 11, 2020, youth leader Naelyn Pike (San Carlos Apache) expl…<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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Indianz.Com Video: Naelyn Pike #ProtectOakFlat <\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n
Copper rush: Opponents worry feds have fast-tracked Resolution mine OK<\/div>\r\n
Friday, November 27, 2020<\/div>\r\n
By Claire Chandler<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\r\nWASHINGTON – Activists worry that the Trump administration has fast-tracked the final environmental impact statement for the massive Resolution Copper mine, a project planned for lands near Superior that are claimed as sacred by the San Carlos Apache<\/a>.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nOpponents became alarmed when the U.S. Forest Service’s schedules of proposed action, which said the environmental statement would be completed by \r\nDecember 2021,<\/a>\r\nsuddenly shifted this year to a finishing date of \r\nthis December,<\/a>\r\nbefore President Donald Trump leaves office.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n“A lot of alarm bells went off when we saw this,” said Randy Serraglio, Southwest conservation advocate at the Center For Biological Diversity. “We realized \u2026 they’re just rushing this through to get it done, while Donald Trump is still president.”

<\/P>\r\nBut officials with the Forest Service and Resolution Copper mine insist nothing is being fast-tracked.

<\/P>\r\nIvan Knudsen, a Forest Service spokesman, said more than “30,000 submittals received during the public and tribal comment periods” were cataloged since the last draft of the environmental impact statement was published in August 2019. He stressed that the timeline adjustment from 2021 to 2020 does “not reflect an acceleration of the \u2026 process” and that federal and local appraisals are being conducted.

<\/P>\r\n“Once completed, they will be reviewed by the regional appraiser, and after they are accepted, made available to the public for review,” said Knudsen.

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\u201cBe strong for everybody, for humankind\u201d: Vernelda Grant, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the San Carlos Apache Tribe, addresses a rally at the U.S….<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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Indianz.Com Video: Vernelda Grant #ProtectOakFlat <\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>

<\/p>\r\nDan Blondeau, a spokesman for Resolution Copper, said the review process, which has been going on for the past seven years, will still go on and the mining company will continue working with stakeholders to minimize the impact of the project.

<\/P>\r\n“The project is not being \u2018fast-tracked\u2019 and Resolution Copper has not sought to apply for programs that are available to expedite projects in permitting review,” Blondeau said in a statement Tuesday.

<\/P>\r\nBlondeau noted that the first schedule for the project, published under the Obama administration, called for the environmental review to be completed by July 2020 – four months ago.

<\/P>\r\n“The permitting process started in 2013 and over the last seven years, the Forest Service has conducted a rigorous review of the project,” Blondeau’s statement said. “The delay in the publication of the FEIS is a result of extensive public consultation, significant interagency coordination and COVID-related changes to the pace of work.”

<\/P>\r\nRelease of the final environmental impact statement starts the clock on a land swap between Resolution Copper mine and the federal government, with the government ceding 2,422 acres of copper-rich land in exchange for 5,344 acres of environmentally significant land.

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\r\n\"protectoakflat\"\r\n
Young citizens of the San Carlos Apache Tribe and allies take part in a #ProtectOakFlat rally at the U.S. Capitol on March 11, 2020. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nAs part of \r\nthe swap,<\/a>\r\nthe federal government would give up Oak Flat, a campground that has been protected since 1955 under an executive order that was issued by President Dwight Eisenhower. The land is considered sacred to Native Americans, who collect herbs at the site, gather for ceremonies and pray there.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\r\nSeveral requests for comment from \r\nApache Stronghold,<\/a>\r\na group that has been camping and protesting to preserve the Oak Flat site for years, were not returned.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nOne concern of opponents is the mining process that Resolution has proposed, block caving, in which the ceilings of mine chambers are collapsed and the rubble removed for processing. After years of caving, the ground above – Oak Flat – would gradually sink into a bowl.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nEfforts to approve the land swap \r\nfailed for years,<\/a>\r\nuntil then-Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, included the deal as an amendment to the must-pass Defense Department \r\nspending bill<\/a>\r\nin late 2014.\r\n

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