This sign on is for organizations only
Please sign your organization onto this letter urging President Joe Biden to immediately withdraw the recently issued Final Environmental Impact Statement, Resolution Copper Project and Land Exchange (EIS 20210005) that would facilitate a land exchange and construction of the Resolution Copper mine, resulting in the destruction of a Native American sacred area, Oak Flat or Chi’chil Bildagoteel.
Oak Flat, located on the Tonto National Forest in Arizona has been used for centuries by Apache and other Native people for ceremony, sustenance and habitation, and ceremonies are still conducted there. Several tribes consider it sacred, including the nearby San Carlos Apache Tribe, which has opposed the proposed Resolution Mine for more than 15 years. Oak Flat is also a popular campground and recreation area with stunning scenery, world-renowned rock climbing, and important habitat for a diverse array of wildlife, including endangered plants, fish, snakes and birds.
Despite being withdrawn from mineral entry more than 60 years ago by President Eisenhower, a literal midnight rider (Section §3003) attached to the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act authorized a land exchange upon release of the Final EIS and federal appraisal within 60-days, by the end of which Oak Flat would be transferred into the private ownership of Resolution Copper, a limited liability corporation jointly owned by foreign mining corporations Rio Tinto and BHP.
Rio Tinto has been implicated in many environmental and cultural disasters over the years, most recently the destruction of an aboriginal sacred site in Australia. In May, 2020, Rio Tinto blew up rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in western Australia, which had been used by Humans for at least 46,000 years, despite promises to aboriginal groups that the area would be protected. The subsequent controversy and upheaval resulted in the firing of the company’s CEO and two other high-ranking executives.
Rio Tinto’s chairman, Scott Thompson, has said he is “determined to ensure that the destruction of a heritage site of such exceptional archaeological and cultural significance never occurs again at a Rio Tinto operation.”
Yet it is attempting to do just that as it takes a major step toward the destruction of Indigenous sacred ground at Oak Flat.
Deadline for sign on itothis action has passed.
Send a letter to the Biden Administration to Protect Oak Flat
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