Parks, Arizona (AZ Family) — Residents of a town outside Flagstaff have been protesting for more than a year against a landmine that could strip 1,400 acres of forest just outside their community.

Now, the company has withdrawn its application to mine in the area, which park residents like Joe Amadeo say is a huge victory.

“Maybe only 200 meters from my front door, I can hear the noise of the mine, I can hear the trucks coming and going,” Amadeo said. “It would have been devastating for the entire community.

Amadeo has lived in Parks for over 10 years. So when he discovered that there could soon be a large mine in the four mountains surrounding his property, it raised concerns for him and his community of about 1,100 people.

“We filled the gym with all of Parks because we knew what that meant,” Amadeo said.

Cement company Drake has a mining permit for 1,400 acres in Spring Valley near Parks to mine pozzolana, a volcanic ash used to make environmentally friendly cement. The plan included extracting between 300,000 and 500,000 tonnes of green material each year for the next 20 years.

A company representative said that previously it was likely to use only a small portion of the application area, rather than the entire application area.

Amadeo said local residents fear not only the landscape but also the wildlife and water.

“The watershed here is the Spring Valley wash that starts right there,” Amadeo said. “Then it flows into the Colorado River through the famous Havasupai Turquoise Falls.”

But just last month, Drake notified the Kaibab National Forest that he was suspending mining applications in the area. But they also added that they have no intention of giving up future mining rights.

Amadeo said it was a victory and he attributed it to the cooperation with the Forest Service and community camaraderie.

“We’re going to have a community celebration soon because it’s such a relief that our backyard won’t be destroyed and our forests won’t be destroyed,” he said. “Our forests will be protected.”

The mine is still working on smaller, less invasive projects in the area. Amadeo said he supports these because they are farther away from communities and cause less damage to the forest.

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