DENVER — Rep. Adelita Grijalva’s (D-Ariz.) proposal to protect Oak Flat will safeguard important Indigenous sites, water resources, and wildlife habitat from destructive copper mining. The Save Oak Flat from Foreign Mining Act will prohibit the transfer of national forest land to mining entities that plan to use a block cave mining method that would create a 2 mile-long crater and drain the region's scarce water resources. Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, also known as Oak Flat, is part of the ancestral homelands of the San Carlos Apache, the Yavapai, Hopi, Zuni, and many other Tribes in the Southwest. 

“Tribal sovereignty is nonnegotiable — and so are the religious and cultural rights of the San Carlos Apache and other Indigenous communities,” said Daisy Purdy, vice president at National Wildlife Federation. “This important legislation honors Tribal sovereignty while also stopping the development of an unnecessary and unacceptable copper mine at Chi’chil Biłdagoteel. This legislation compels the administration to reverse course and commit to respecting Tribal sovereignty and trust responsibilities, honoring Treaty rights, engaging in Free Prior and Informed Consent, and ensuring responsible stewardship of wildlife and Indigenous cultural and religious sites.”

"This transfer of U.S. public lands and copper was buried in a midnight rider that denied Americans hearings, debate, transparency, and a fair say in the fate of Oak Flat from the very beginning,” said Camilla Simon, Executive Director of HECHO. “HECHO applauds Rep. Grijalva’s effort to protect Arizona’s natural resources, local communities, and our national security. The proposed mine will consume 250 billion gallons of water in a state facing a historic water crisis and leave behind nearly 1.4 billion tons of toxic waste."