US judge denies request to halt Oak Flat land transfer to copper mining company

SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN
Fri, August 15, 2025


FILE - Mine shafts 10, left, and 9, right, tower over the Resolution Copper Mining Company facility, June 9, 2023, in Miami, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS

FILE - Campers utilize Oak Flat Campground in the Tonto National Forest, June 9, 2023, in Miami, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS

FILE - Mine shafts 10, left, and 9, right, tower over the Resolution Copper Mining Company facility, June 9, 2023, in Miami, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)ASSOCIATED PRESSMore

A U.S. district judge on Friday denied the latest request by a Native American tribe, environmentalists and other plaintiffs to stop the federal government from transferring land in Arizona for a massive copper mining project.

The ruling by Judge Dominic Lanza triggered an immediate appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as a deadline fast approaches for the federal government to move ahead with the transfer next week.

Lanza outlined the “stark trade-offs” at the heart of the fight over Oak Flat, an area considered sacred. He pointed to the economic and national security benefits that would come from the land transfer and the indescribable hardships that would result from the permanent destruction of the Apaches' historical place of worship.

Lanza wrote that the nation's political branches are responsible for weighing competing objectives and determining how to balance them.

“Here, Congress chose to pursue the land exchange despite the existence of many significant trade-offs and the president chose to ratify Congress’s choice by signing the law into effect,” he wrote. "As a result, the Court must accept that this choice advances the public interest and operate from that premise.”

Conservation groups that are appealing the decision acknowledged that the clock was ticking but said they were not giving up.

The San Carlos Apache Tribe, the group Apache Stronghold and other plaintiffs having been fighting in court for years to save what tribal members call Chi’chil Bildagoteel, which is dotted with ancient oak groves and traditional plants the Apaches consider essential to their religion.

The plaintiffs have taken aim at a required environmental review that was released by the U.S. Forest Service earlier this summer. They contend the federal government did not consider the potential for a dam breach, pipeline failure or if there was an emergency plan for a tailings storage area.

Before the land exchange can happen, they argued that the federal government must prepare a comprehensive review that considers “every aspect of the planned mine and all related infrastructure.”

The plaintiffs also raised concerns that an appraisal failed to account for the value of the copper deposits underlying one of the federal parcels to be exchanged

The fight over Oak Flat dates back about 20 years, when legislation proposing the land exchange was first introduced. It failed repeatedly in Congress before being included in a must-pass national defense spending bill in 2014.

The project has support in nearby Superior and other mining towns in the area. Resolution Copper — a subsidiary of international mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP — estimates the mine will generate $1 billion a year for Arizona’s economy and create thousands of jobs.

The tribe and the advocacy group Apache Stronghold sued the U.S. government in 2021 to protect Oak Flat. The U.S. Supreme Court in May rejected an appeal by the Apache group, letting lower court rulings stand.

Court refuses to halt land swap that will let Resolution Copper build mine at Oak Flat

Debra Utacia Krol, Arizona Republic
Fri, August 15, 2025 



A federal judge has rejected an attempt by the San Carlos Apache Tribe and a coalition of environmentalists to stop a contested land exchange between the U.S. Forest Service and Resolution Copper.

In a ruling released Aug. 15, Judge Dominic W. Lanza acknowledged that the Resolution Copper mine will destroy one of the Apache people's most sacred sites, could potentially inflict devastating environmental effects and use tremendous quantities of water as Arizona endures a historic drought. But he said the plaintiffs had failed to prove a case that would tip the scales in their favor.

Lanza's ruling sets the stage for a formal handover of Oak Flat, a 2,200-acre campground in Tonto National Forest, to Resolution Copper in exchange for several parcels of environmentally sensitive land as soon as Aug. 19, when his previous injunction, which gave the cases time to be heard, ends.

Lanza wrote in a 94-page opinion that although the tribe and environmentalists' arguments established the likelihood of "irreparable injury" if the exchange goes through, the bill that authorized the swap reflected Congress' priorities: promoting economic and national security interests — even if it comes "at the expense of potential devastation to the religious beliefs and practices of the Tribe and to the environment."

Resolution has said that the mine could contribute as much as $1 billion annually to the state's economy and create thousands of jobs in the Copper Triangle. Lanza also said the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to hear grassroots group Apache Stronghold's appeal in May influenced his decision.

"The Supreme Court recently denied certiorari in Apache Stronghold despite the presence of claims that, in the court’s view, present much closer and more serious merits questions than the substantive claims at issue here," he wrote.
'We are not giving up'

Lanza's ruling included stark language about the lawsuit's central claims about the loss of religious rights: "it is difficult to overstate just how profoundly the land exchange will undermine the ability of members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe to practice their religion," he wrote.

"It is undisputed that the government’s plan will permanently destroy the Apaches’ historical place of worship,preventing them from ever again engaging in religious exercise at Oak Flat," he said, but concluded that "have not advanced any religion-based claims in their pending motions."

Lanza barred any further attempt to seek an injunction to stop the exchange as the tribe and environmentalists appeal the decision.

The environmentalists and the Inter Tribal Association of Arizona immediately filed an appeal with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“It is sad news that the judge did not pause this ill-conceived land exchange that if allowed to go forward would destroy Oak Flat and all that makes it special, including the old Emory oak trees, endangered hedgehog cactus, and its significant cultural and recreational values,” said Sandy Bahr, director of Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter. “We are not giving up, however, and remain committed to doing everything we can to ensure Oak Flat is here for future generations.”

Resolution said the ruling was consistent with "settled" law directing the land exchange and advancement of the mine. Also, the spokesperson said, "The U.S. Forest Service is clear in its Final Environmental Impact Statement that the land exchange is mandated by law and not discretionary."

The Center for Biological Diversity, one of the plaintiffs in the case, also said they're not giving up, said Russ McSpadden, Southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity.

“The clock to save this extraordinary place is ticking and we’re hopeful an appeals court will allow these important cases to be heard.”

Saving the land: Indigenous people find legal, cultural barriers to protect sacred spaces off tribal lands
A 2-decade fight over religious rights and water

For more than two decades, Oak Flat Campground, known to Apaches as Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, "the place where the Emory oak grows," has been ground zero in a battle over Native religious rights on public lands as well as preservation of one of Arizona's most scarce commodities, a wetland.

The 2,200-acre primitive campground and riparian zone, within the Tonto National Forest about 60 miles east of Phoenix, also lies over one of the nation's largest remaining bodies of copper ore.

Tribes, environmentalists and their allies have been fighting to prevent Oak Flat from being given to Resolution Copper in exchange for other environmentally sensitive lands in Arizona. The company had pursued the land exchange with the Forest Service for about 10 years before it became attached to a defense bill by lawmakers led by the late Sen. John McCain in December 2014.

To obtain the copper ore, Resolution, which is owned by multinational companies Rio Tinto and BHP, plan to use a method known as block cave mining, in which tunnels are drilled beneath the ore body and then collapsed, leaving the ore to be moved to a crushing facility. Eventually, the ground will subside, leaving behind a crater about 1,000 feet deep and nearly 2 miles across, obliterating Oak Flat and its religious and environmental significance.

Grassroots group Apache Stronghold filed a lawsuit in January 2021 in federal court to stop the land swap, citing religious rights guarantees under the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a religious freedom nonprofit law firm, accepted the case and, along with a group of private attorneys and law professors, has represented Apache Stronghold, which includes Apache and other Native peoples and their allies.

The Biden administration rescinded the environmental impact statement in March 2021 for further consultation with tribes. The Forest Service announced consultation was concluded in 2023. Resolution was granted permission to join the lawsuit in 2023.

In 2024, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Apache Stronghold in a narrow 6-5 decision. That fall, the group appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Forest Service's announcement in April that the process would move forward again set off a flurry of court filings to stop or at least put on hold the move, which would open up a 60-day period when the land exchange could take place. Apache Stronghold won a temporary halt to the proceedings until the high court either decided not to take the case or issued a decision.

The Supreme Court turned Apache Stronghold down in May.

On June 9, U.S. District Court Judge Dominic W. Lanza barred the Forest Service from completing the land exchange until a full 60 days after the new document is issued to give parties from the other two lawsuits sufficient time to review the environmental impact statement and revive their litigation. The 60-day period ends Aug. 19, after which the land exchange can be completed unless the court issues a new halt to the proceedings.

In July, Apache Stronghold asked the high court to reconsider its decision and agree to hear the case.

Also in July, a group of Apache women filed their own lawsuit to halt the land exchange at Oak Flat. The four women, who have spiritual and cultural connections to the site, filed their suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia July 24. Their litigation said that the exchange violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the First Amendment's religious rights protections and two environmental laws.

The lawsuit also brought two new factors into play: a recent high court decision that affirms parental rights to direct their children's religious education and references to Justice Neil Gorsuch's blistering dissent to the Supreme Court's refusal to hear Apache Stronghold's case.

Debra Krol reports on Indigenous communities at the confluence of climate, culture and commerce in Arizona and the Intermountain West. Reach Krol at debra.krol@azcentral.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @debkrol and on Bluesky at @debkrol.bsky.social‬.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Judge refuses to halt land swap for Resolution Copper mine at Oak Flat