US judge denies request to halt Oak Flat land transfer to copper mining
company
[August 16, 2025] By
SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN
A U.S. district judge on Friday denied the latest request by a Native
American tribe, environmentalists and other plaintiffs to stop the
federal government from transferring land in Arizona for a massive
copper mining project.
The ruling by Judge Dominic Lanza triggered an immediate appeal to the
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as a deadline fast approaches for the
federal government to move ahead with the transfer next week.
Lanza outlined the “stark trade-offs” at the heart of the fight over Oak
Flat, an area considered sacred. He pointed to the economic and national
security benefits that would come from the land transfer and the
indescribable hardships that would result from the permanent destruction
of the Apaches' historical place of worship.
Lanza wrote that the nation's political branches are responsible for
weighing competing objectives and determining how to balance them.
“Here, Congress chose to pursue the land exchange despite the existence
of many significant trade-offs and the president chose to ratify
Congress’s choice by signing the law into effect,” he wrote. "As a
result, the Court must accept that this choice advances the public
interest and operate from that premise.”
Conservation groups that are appealing the decision acknowledged that
the clock was ticking but said they were not giving up.
The San Carlos Apache Tribe, the group Apache Stronghold and other
plaintiffs having been fighting in court for years to save what tribal
members call Chi’chil Bildagoteel, which is dotted with ancient oak
groves and traditional plants the Apaches consider essential to their
religion.
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Campers utilize Oak Flat Campground in the Tonto National Forest,
June 9, 2023, in Miami, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)
 The plaintiffs have taken aim at a
required environmental review that was released by the U.S. Forest
Service earlier this summer. They contend the federal government did
not consider the potential for a dam breach, pipeline failure or if
there was an emergency plan for a tailings storage area.
Before the land exchange can happen, they argued that the federal
government must prepare a comprehensive review that considers “every
aspect of the planned mine and all related infrastructure.”
The plaintiffs also raised concerns that an appraisal failed to
account for the value of the copper deposits underlying one of the
federal parcels to be exchanged
The fight over Oak Flat dates back about 20 years, when legislation
proposing the land exchange was first introduced. It failed
repeatedly in Congress before being included in a must-pass national
defense spending bill in 2014.
The project has support in nearby Superior and other mining towns in
the area. Resolution Copper — a subsidiary of international mining
giants Rio Tinto and BHP — estimates the mine will generate $1
billion a year for Arizona’s economy and create thousands of jobs.
The tribe and the advocacy group Apache Stronghold sued the U.S.
government in 2021 to protect Oak Flat. The U.S. Supreme Court in
May rejected an appeal by the Apache group, letting lower court
rulings stand.
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