
US judge halts plan to transfer Oak Flat land for contested Arizona copper mine
PHOENIX (AP) — A U.S. district judge on Friday temporarily halted the federal government's plans to transfer land in eastern Arizona for a massive copper mining project amid protest by Native American groups that consider the area sacred.
Apache Stronghold and its supporters have been fighting for years to stop the transfer of Tonto National Forest land known as Oak Flat to Resolution Copper. Meanwhile, the company has touted the economic benefits for the region and says it's worked with Native American tribes and others to shape the project.
U.S. District Judge Steven Logan said halting the land transfer would merely delay the production of copper and jobs and revenue to Arizona if it's ultimately upheld. On the other hand, he said Apaches would lose legal access to an ancestral, sacred site if the transfer proceeded.
He said the balance of equities 'tips sharply' in favor of Apache Stronghold. He granted an injunction that will be in place until the U.S. Supreme Court resolves an appeal to reconsider a decision from a panel of judges that
refused to block
the land transfer for the mine.
Logan, however, denied Apache Stronghold's request to have the injunction extend beyond the Supreme Court's resolution of the case.
'We are grateful the judge stopped this land grab in its tracks so that the Supreme Court has time to protect Oak Flat from destruction,' Wendsler Nosie Sr. of Apache Stronghold said in a statement Friday.
A statement from Resolution Cooper said the ruling simply maintains the status quo and anticipates the U.S. Supreme Court will decide soon whether to take up the case.
The fight over Oak Flat dates back about 20 years, when legislation proposing the land transfer was first introduced. It failed repeatedly in Congress before being included in a must-pass national defense spending bill in 2014.
President Donald Trump in his first administration released an environmental review that would trigger the land transfer. Former President Joe Biden pulled it back so the federal government could consult further with tribes.
Then, the U.S. Forest Service in April announced it would forge ahead with the land transfer, prompting Apache Stronghold's
emergency appeal
.
Apache Stronghold
sued the U.S. government
in 2021 under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to protect the place tribal members call Chi'chil Bildagoteel, an area dotted with ancient oak groves and traditional plants the Apaches consider essential to their religion.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Letters: Immigrants are doing what anyone would do for their families
President Donald Trump and his adviser Stephen Miller characterize immigrants as murderers, rapists and thieves. They are correct — about the first immigrants to these shores, who indeed murdered the native residents, raped enslaved women and stole land that had been occupied by others for centuries. Now descendants of some of these original pillagers have the audacity to terrorize the latest generation of immigrants who, along with prior generations from Europe, have built this country's infrastructure with their sweat and enriched our culture with their traditions, cuisine, art and music. Not to mention the billions of dollars they contribute to our economy. To Trump, Miller and the rest who demonize people who risk everything to illegally cross our borders, I would ask: If your tidy neighborhood was plunged into violence, if you could no longer feed your hungry children because of society's breakdown, and just over the border, Canadians were still living in peace and comfort, what would you do? I'll bet we'd find you sneaking over to Canada by any means possible. Karin Burger, Petaluma Fight for democracy Let's unite against the threat of authoritarianism and defend our democracy. We must learn from history and recognize the alarming parallels between President Donald Trump's actions and those of dictators like Hitler and Stalin. The Republican-led Congress must be held accountable for its inaction. The Supreme Court's decisions are undermining our democratic institutions, and it's crucial we speak out against this erosion of our rights. As Americans, we must stand together and demand our leaders protect our freedom, human rights and the rule of law. We must mobilize and march peacefully to show our determination to preserve our democracy. Scott Paul, Royal Oak, Mich. Military call-ups inconsistent The Los Angeles Police Department has about 8,800 police officers. The department has dealt with major protests, such as this week's, successfully over the years. Each Los Angeles police officer should be insulted because President Donald Trump apparently thinks they cannot do their jobs and ordered the California National Guard and U.S. Marines into Los Angeles. This is pure theater at an estimated cost of $134 million to American taxpayers. And why was the military not called upon when the U.S. Capitol was under siege on Jan. 6, 2021? We know the answer. Phillip Points, San Francisco Penalize union leader Regarding ''I do not feel safe': City College of S.F. instructor shaken by union leader's verbal attack' (San Francisco, June 5): The public rant by Service Employees International Union Local 1021 President Maria Salazar at a City College of San Francisco board meeting is disturbing, unprofessional, unacceptable and in my view, antisemitic. What's more appalling is that Board of Trustees President Anita Martinez allowed Salazar to continue her attack against a faculty member even after Trustee Aliyah Chisti cautioned Martinez that speakers needed to be 'mindful' of what they say. Salazar said, 'I can say whatever I want' because she knows she can act with impunity. This is the crux of the problem at City College. The board is intimidated because members rely on union endorsements to get reelected. The trustees' meek response in admitting they erred shows how cowed they are by the union. It should be noted that during Salazar's inflammatory outburst, at least one trustee was laughing. If trustees believe Salazar's action violated board policy, which requires speakers to be respectful and civil, what is the consequence? For anyone else, such overt discrimination and bias would be a career ender. The targeted faculty member, the college community and the public need to see Salazar face real consequences. Ghin Yu, San Francisco All students matter Regarding 'Not Lowell Caliber' (Letters to the Editor, June 10): The letter writer answered the wrong question. What matters is not whether lottery students admitted to Lowell High School could do as well as their better-prepared peers. What matters is whether the lottery kids did better than they would have at a different school. We need well-educated citizens to save this country from tyranny. To write off some teenagers as 'not belonging' is shortsighted and cruel. Cynthia Cudaback, Oakland

Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Brazil's Supreme Court justices agree to make social media companies liable for user content
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — The majority of justices on Brazil's Supreme Court have agreed to make social media companies liable for illegal postings by their users. Gilmar Mendes on Wednesday became the sixth of the court's 11 justices to vote to open a path for companies like Meta, X and Microsoft to be sued and pay fines for content published by their users. Voting is ongoing but a simple majority is all that is needed for the measure to pass. The ruling will come after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned of possible visa restrictions against foreign officials allegedly involved in censoring American citizens. The only dissenting Brazilian justice so far is André Mendonça and his vote was made public last week. The social media proposal would become law once voting is finished and the result is published. But Brazil's Congress could still pass another law to reverse the measure. The current legislation states social media companies can only be held responsible in those cases if they do not remove hazardous content after a court order. Mauricio Savarese, The Associated Press
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Southern Baptists move to end same-sex marriage in the US
Southern Baptists, whose faith includes over 12 million members in the US, have endorsed a ban to end same-sex marriage in America. The moment marks the first time the group has officially opposed the ruling in Obergefell v Hodges, the 2015 landmark Supreme Court case backing same-sex marriage. The votes on Tuesday came during the annual Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas, Texas, attended by over 10,000 church representatives. Experts say the evangelical group's values have increasingly shifted to align with the Christian right, a branch of conservatism that has gained momentum under US President Donald Trump. The Southern Baptists' resolution does not use the word "ban" directly. Instead, it calls for the "overturning of laws and court rulings, including Obergefell v. Hodges, that defy God's design for marriage and family". The resolution also calls "for laws that affirm marriage between one man and one woman". Any legal reversal of the Supreme Court's Obergefell decision would not lead automatically to a nationwide ban of same-sex marriage. Thirty-six states had already legalised same-sex marriage at the time of the ruling, and nearly 70% of Americans still support it, polls show. "What we're trying to do is keep the conversation alive," Andrew Walker, an ethicist at a Southern Baptist seminary in Kentucky who wrote the resolution, told the New York Times. Although the resolution is non-binding, it comes from a large, influential faction of President Trump's base and sends a direct message to the White House. Eighty-five percent of white evangelical Protestants are likely to be Republican voters, according to a 2024 Pew Research survey. "I think there is a confidence that (Trump) will have their backs," Kristin Du Mez, a Calvin University history professor specializing in religion and politics, told the BBC. "In some ways, it's an uphill battle," she said. "But I do think they sense that there's been this shift, that there may be a window opening, and that they think this is the right time to press this issue." She described a "transactional element" to the relationship between evangelicals and Trump, whose Supreme Court nominations helped end national abortion rights. Evangelicals also played a "very prominent" role overturning Roe v Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that protected abortion for nearly 50 years before it was overturned in 2022, said Ms Du Mez. She said she believes evangelicals may be using the same blueprint to end same-sex marriage. "I know some of the leaders have pointed to Roe v Wade as a model of the need to play the long game," she said. Trump's message on same-sex marriage has been mixed over the years, telling CNN in 2015 that he supported "traditional marriage" then, in a 60 Minutes interview in 2016, saying he was "fine" with same-sex marriage. In his second term, however, he has launched a campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) with multiple directives targeting LGBTQ groups. This includes banning transgender people from serving the military, and revoking a Biden-era executive order preventing discrimination "on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation". Fear and anxiety in LGBTQ communities have grown as a result, leading some international organisations to boycott World Pride in Washington DC this year. And although public support largely remains behind same-sex marriage, the Southern Baptists' resolution has added to LGBTQ groups' sense of alarm. "This is a very visible example of how attacks on the LGBTQ+ community as a whole have intensified, even as politicians take aim at transgender people as a tactic to divide us," Laurel Powell, Human Rights Campaign communications director, said in a statement to the BBC. "We will never stop fighting to love who we love and be who we are."