The Newspaper of Record since 1878

San Carlos Apache Tribe Chairman Terry Rambler releases statement

Posted

San Carlos Apache Reservation – The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it is directing the Tonto National Forest to rescind the Final Environmental Impact Statement and draft Record of Decision for the proposed Resolution Copper Mine. This action stops the transfer of Oak Flat, land that is sacred to the San Carlos and numerous Federally Recognized Tribes.

San Carlos Apache Tribe Chairman Terry Rambler said, “This is the right move by the Department of Agriculture. The Resolution project will desecrate Chich’il Bildagoteel, also known as Oak Flat, which is the heart of our religious and cultural beliefs. As noted in our federal lawsuit, the U.S. Forest Service failed to follow the law in the preparation of a sham Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) that was being used to justify trading away our sacred land to further enrich wealthy foreign mining companies. We look forward to continuing our work to permanently protect Oak Flat.”

The Department of Agriculture announcement can be found at https://www.resolutionmineeis.us/.