07.17.15

Ranking Member Grijalva Will Speak at Apache Capitol Gathering Next Wednesday on Reversing the Resolution Copper Land Giveaway

Washington, D.C. – Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva will speak next Wednesday, July 22, at a Capitol Hill gathering of the San Carlos Apache Nation and other parties on his bill to reverse the unjust Resolution Copper land giveaway included in last year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). His bill, the Save Oak Flat Act, would cancel the mandated land swap that threatens the sacred Apache Leap site with environmental damage from nearby high-risk copper mining.

The San Carlos Apache will hold a two-day gathering next Tuesday and Wednesday on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol to protest the land swap, which was included in the NDAA with the support of Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake after it was twice pulled from consideration in the House as a standalone measure. The swap transfers a U.S. Forest Service land parcel in eastern Arizona known as Oak Flat – which was withdrawn from mining consideration by President Dwight Eisenhower – for land previously held by Resolution Copper, which is co-owned by international mining conglomerates Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.

Resolution has already announced its intention to build a block cave mine on its newly acquired land, which has been home to medicinal plant and acorn gathering and traditional religious ceremonies for centuries. The project would severely damage the environmental and cultural value of the area, which is directly adjacent to Apache Leap, an especially sacred site where Apache warriors being pursued by U.S. cavalry leapt to their deaths to avoid capture.

As part of the gathering, the San Carlos Apache will host speakers from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. next Wednesday on the West Lawn to protest the giveaway and remind Congress of its legal and moral obligations to Indian Country. Rep. Grijalva will speak during the latter half of the program.

A group of San Carlos members is currently traveling with musician Neil Young as part of a caravan to Washington raising awareness of the land swap and their efforts to prevent it. You can learn more about their journey at http://www.apache-stronghold.com.  

To schedule an interview with an Apache Stronghold member, contact Bill Snape at the Center for Biological Diversity at bsnape@biologicaldiversity.org or (202) 536-9351.