The Trump administration wants to quickly approve controversial nature reserves mining

Compression of the highest level

The Forest Service is expected to issue a ruling on a new Arizona copper mine in a few weeks. It will be in Oak Flat Nature Reserve, Which It was recognized as the holy land of the Apache.

A Forest Service employee recently admitted there was “top level” pressure to complete the assessment quickly. Initially, the study will not be completed until mid-2021. It is now expected to be in mid-January. Then the area moves to the mining companies in exchange for other lands. This is thanks to a law that President Obama signed in 2014. After that, construction could no longer be stopped.

Plans of the two Australian mining companies behind the project show that a significant portion of the area will eventually be destroyed. The mine will gradually collapse due to explosions and underground mining. This creates a crater over 300 meters deep.

Apache

The mine could provide about a quarter of the copper America needs annually. “This is why President Trump has worked so hard to reduce the bureaucracy in these types of projects,” said Economy Minister Wilbur Ross a few months ago.

Apache members are still fighting against the mine’s access. Former leader Wendsler Nosie now lives permanently in Oak Flat. “This is where we originally came from, so what am I doing wrong?” He asks in the video report The Fight for Oak Flat. “If this land becomes in the hands of a foreign company, and it becomes private property, then they should do whatever they want with me. Let’s see.”