PHOENIX (AP) — A group of Native Americans seeking to halt efforts to build one of the largest copper mines in the United States said Tuesday at a full federal appeals court panel that the project would take land that the Apaches consider to be land. He said that destroying them would prevent them from exercising their religion. sacred.
A U.S. federal government plan to allow Resolution Copper to build a mine would destroy a piece of land in eastern Arizona known as Oak Flats, “preventing the Apaches from accessing it again, and depriving them of their core.” It will put a permanent end to all secular religious practices,” said attorney Luke. Goodrich in his defense of a group called Apache Stronghold.
“When governments destroy sacred sites, the Religious Freedom Act has something to say about it,” said Goodrich, vice president and senior attorney at nonprofit law firm Beckett Law. stated in a prepared document. Statement circulated after hearings in Pasadena, California. “A victory for Apache Stronghold will be a victory for people of all faiths.”
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The Apache Group is trying to stop the land swap while the lawsuit goes to court. Her 11-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is expected to make a ruling in the coming months.
Apache Fortress sued the US government Under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, ancient oak groves and traditional plants were interspersed to protect the site, which tribe members call Chi’chil Bildagoteel, where the Apaches adhered to their religion. I believe it is essential.
An environmental impact study for the project has been withdrawn, but the USDA has been consulting with Native American tribes and others about their concerns for months.
But Joan Pepin, a U.S. government attorney, said Tuesday that the Forest Service could begin reissuing environmental analyzes as early as this spring and begin land swaps that must be completed within 60 days. Said he was doing
Pepin says the parliamentary act authorizing the exchange of Oak Flat for land on Resolution Copper replaces the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which prevents government agencies from imposing a “substantial burden” on the practice of religion. claimed to be
The land transfer was a last-minute provision included in the Defense Bill, which should be passed in 2014. The exchange would give the mining company 3.75 square miles (9.71 square kilometers) of national forest land in exchange for eight parcels he owns elsewhere in the United States. Arizona.
Resolution Copper, a joint venture between global mining company Rio Tinto and BHP, says it continues to address concerns raised about the project, but acknowledges strong local support for the mine. pointing out. Rio Tinto is headquartered in Australia and the United Kingdom, while BHP is based in Australia.
The project could supply enough copper to meet up to a quarter of U.S. demand, add up to $1 billion annually to Arizona’s economy, and create thousands of local jobs. says there is.
a Small 9th Circuit panel Earlier, the federal government ruled 2 to 1 that the Oak Flats land could be given to mining companies for this project. The court later agreed to let a larger panel hear the case.
Members of the Apache Stronghold traveled from Arizona to attend the hearings, stopping in cities along the way to draw attention to the case. They met on Monday at the Community Arts Center in the Boyle He Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Apache Stronghold’s Wenzler Nosy Sr. said in a statement released after the hearing, “Oak Flat is where our people have come to connect with our Creator for thousands of years. and we have the right to continue that sacred tradition.For that right the courts may treat our places of worship differently simply because they lack four walls and a spire. I am determined to stop people who think I am sexually active.
Poor people’s campaigns, environmental groups, the National Indian Congress and many others support the Battle of the Apache Stronghold.
St. Thomas Law Professor Thomas Berg called it the most important Native American religious freedom case in 15 years.
“The legal tests used throughout the Ninth Circuit could change,” Berg said in a statement. There could be some places,” he said.
