Learn More about protecting the Grand Canyon from uranium mining.
See this video to learn why we should protect the Grand Canyon from uranium mining. Comments are due May 4.
Grand Canyon Uranium Mining PSA from James Q Martin Media on Vimeo.
See clip to protect the Grand Canyon from Uranium Mining
See a clip to learn why we should protect the Grand Canyon from Uranium Mining.
Grand Canyon Uranium Mining PSA from James Q Martin Media on Vimeo.
ADEQ Allows Mining on the Honor System
One would think that in Arizona, which has the worst mining
laws and regulations of any state in the union, the mining industry would
realize how good they’ve got it. However,
in their quest to mine fettered only by the limits of their own greed, min
ing
companies carp as loudly as ever about being over-burdened and over-regulated
to death.
Mining companies trot out a list as long as your arm about
how many reports and permits they are required to obtain. However, given the track record of the mining
industry in Arizona, there is a good reason for regulation – for nearly 150
years, mining in Arizona has proven to be a social and environmental nightmare.
The truth however, is far different.
Ocelots at Oak Flat?
Ocelots are roaming Arizona!
The Sky Island Alliance photographed an ocelot in southern Arizona in November or 2009. And in April of 2010, an ocelot was run over by a car between Gaan Canyon just east of Oak Flat Campground and Top Of The World, Arizona. According to a recent article in the latest issue of the High Country News, the Arizona Game & Fish Department thinks that this ocelot was not captive breed and therefore presumably a free roaming wild ocelot. In addition to the ocelot kill on US Highway 60, there have been several sitings of ocelots within the Oak Flat Campground itself since April of 2010. The Arizona Game & Fish Department is working with the US Fish & WIldlife Service and the US Forest Service to investigate these sitings.
It has been known for some time that the Oak Flat ecosystem (containing Gaan Canyon, Apache Leap, Queen Creek Canyon, and Oak Flat Campground) is ecologically unique, but the high probability of ocelots in the area is yet another reason to not rush into passage of the Oak Flat land exchange and to make sure that Rio Tinto goes though the normal process of trying to permit a mine rather than taking a Congressional shortcut.
Foes of Rosemont Mine remain confident
Tony Davis of the Arizona Daily Star interviewed Director of the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition, Roger Featherstone, and President of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, Gayle Hartmann, last week and published parts of the interview on Sunday, August 22, 2010. See a transcript of the article here or go to the full article.
Oak Flat land exchange Op-Ed
The following editorial written by Roy Chavez and Roger Featherstone ran in the April 20, 2010 edition of the Arizona Republic.
The Sonoran Institute was on target in its critique of
the proposed Rosemont mine south of Tucson (4/3/10 Arizona Republic), however,
the author drew the wrong conclusion about Rio Tinto’s proposal to mine under
Oak Flat Campground east of Superior. In fact it would be impossible to
do the same thorough analysis of the Rio Tinto project as is being done on the
Rosemont mine proposal, since Rio Tinto has yet to even write a mining
plan. Rio Tinto is trying to evade the rules, which every other mining company
wanting to use public lands must follow, and has instead gone straight to the
U.S. Congress for a special sweetheart land exchange deal.
Congresswoman Kirkpatrick Introduces McCain compromise in House
Yesterday Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick introduced the compromise language Senator McCain wrote last year on the Oak Flat land exchange. That language was substituted for the original language in S 409 and was voted out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last December. The new bill, HR 4880 has been referred to the House Natural Resources Committee. Representative Kirkpatrick has renamed the bill the ‘‘Copper Basin Jobs Act’’
Oak Flat Land Exchange In The News
Recent Press on the Oak Flat Land Exchange
Vegetation and Wildlife Survey of Devil’s Canyon (Gaan Canyon), Tonto National Forest
Devil’s Canyon is located in Pinal County Arizona approximately 6 km east of the town of Superior in the Globe Ranger District of the Tonto National Forest. The area is generally rugged with deep canyons and is defined by its complex rock formations. Portions of Devil’s Canyon have stretches of large and dense riparian growth that support a high diversity of breeding birds and other wildlife.