AMERICAS
Trump officials are rushing to mine in a desert area which is considered to be holy by native tribes
San Carlos Apache tribal member Wendsler Nosie Sr has been camping in a teepee since January at a campground in the Oak Flat of south-eastern Arizona, a vast high desert oasis dotted with ancient oak groves and soaring rock spires. It is a demonstration in defense of the "holy land" where for centuries the Apache have prayed and conducted ceremonies.
A
dozen Native American tribes in the south-west have close cultural links to Oak Flat. But, as the Guardian has learned, the Trump administration has embarked on a rapid attempt in its waning days to pass control of the region to a mining corporation linked to the destruction of an Aboriginal site in Australia. We were in the fourth quarter and there were two minutes left in the match. And then Trump lied, but we've just got one minute left now,' said Nosie, who was a
high school football quarterback. "To fight this, everybody has to mobilize now." Last month, tribes found that the completion deadline of a vital environmental assessment phase was abruptly pushed forward to December 2020 by a full year, even as the tribes are dealing with a Covid epidemic that has stifled their ability to respond. The tribes may be powerless to stop the mine if the environmental assessment is done before Trump leaves office.
28 | SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW February 2021
Local leaders said the drive was happening in a meeting with environmental groups because, according to notes from the meeting seen by the Guardian, "we are getting pressure from the highest level at the Department of Agriculture." The US Forest Service, which is in charge of Oak Flat, is overseen by the state. Officials are hurrying through a host of environmentally damaging projects that will favor business interests as the curtain closes on the Trump age. This include opening the national Arctic wildlife refuge
