On Friday, a federal judge in Phoenix seemingly cleared the way for a massive copper mining project — until the 9th Circuit suddenly stepped in. The latest court order came late Monday afternoon — less than 24-hours before Oak Flat inside the Tonto National Forest would’ve turned into private property.
That pending land exchange between the U.S. Forest Service and multinational mining company Resolution Copper has been put on hold once more with a temporary administrative injunction issued by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The new order comes days after Federal Judge Dominic Lanza denied requests to delay the congressionally authorized land transfer. These pleas came from a coalition of conservation and environmental plaintiffs, including the San Carlos Apache Tribe.
The tribe called it “a last-minute victory,” while Resolution Copper told KJZZ it’s confident the court will ultimately affirm Lanza’s “well-reasoned orders” upon considering the “plaintiffs’ eleventh hour motions.”
The three-judge panel would not comment on the merits but noted these appeals will undergo an expedited briefing schedule starting next month.
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Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren made his third annual state address in Shiprock on Tuesday, outlining his administration’s accomplishments amid ongoing efforts to remove him from office before his term expires this year. -
That pending land swap between the U.S. Forest Service and a multinational mining company would result in a six-decade underground copper project that is estimated to create a two-mile-wide crater, devouring an Apache holy site called Oak Flat. -
Tribes are still figuring out how to start and finish renewable energy projects amid the Trump administration freezing or eliminating federal dollars from the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act, which directed more than $720 million to Indian Country. -
Scientists, writers, artists and others with an interest in the Colorado River got together recently in Moab, Utah, for an event called Rivers of Change. -
As currently written, the proposed EPA rule would narrow the 1972 landmark law’s enforcement with estimates suggesting that 80% of the nation’s wetlands could be at risk.
