The law library collection has a book called "Oak Flat: A Fight for Sacred Land in the American West" by Lauren Redniss, published in 2020. This book is an artistic rendering of interviews with members of the community around Oak Flat (Chi’chil Bildagoteel) in Arizona, including Naelyn Pike, an activist from a San Carlos Apache family advocating against the mining set to occur in Oak Flat.
Oak Flat by
The law library has set up an exhibit on the lower level of the law library about Oak Flat, its significance, as well as the legislation and court cases surrounding it. The exhibit includes parts of the book above, a poster and shirt from the community organization advocating to protect Oak Flat, text explaining the context of the issues and legislation surrounding Oak Flat (replicated below), as well as excerpts and a QR link to law review articles which discuss land rights, free exercise of religion for the San Carlos Apache in protecting Oak Flat as a sacred site, and legislative riders in appropriation bills (the mechanism by which legislation authorizing the mining at Oak Flat was passed).
What is Oak Flat? Why is it significant? What would be the effect of mining on the land?
According to the Association on American Indian Affairs: “Chi' chil Bildagoteel, known in English as Oak Flat, is a Traditional Cultural Property listed on the National Register of Historic Places located within the Tonto National Forest (TNF) in southeastern Arizona and is a Sacred Site to the Apache and other Native Nations. The Oak Flat area plays a particularly vital role in informing spirituality and culture of many Native Nations—past and present. Since time immemorial, Native Peoples have traveled to Oak Flat to participate in ceremonies, to pray, to gather medicines and ceremonial items, to honor those buried within its boundaries and to seek and obtain personal cleansing and healing.”
According to the Center for Biological Diversity: “The mine [planned at Oak Flat] would use a special new technique to excavate the ore body 7,000 feet underground. Material removed from the mine would spread toxic waste across thousands of acres of public land, and when ultimately closed, it would leave behind a crater up to two miles wide and 1,000 feet deep. Oak Flat would be utterly destroyed and unsafe for human visitation in perpetuity.”
What legislation and court cases surround Oak Flat?
In December 2014, a legislative rider (the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act) was added to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2015, with Congress authorizing the exchange of Oak Flat to Resolution Copper Mining, LLC (owned by the companies Rio Tinto and BHP) so it could build a copper mine on the land. In return, the companies traded land they owned around Arizona to the federal government. This legislative rider slipped into an appropriations bill sidestepped the congressional debate process considering the environmental, cultural, and religious costs, especially to the San Carlos Apache.
With the legislation challenged in federal court by a nonprofit community organization called Apache Stronghold, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a decision in 2024 rejecting efforts to stop the construction of the mine at Oak Flat, rejecting efforts to stop the construction of the mine at Oak Flat. Apache Stronghold then appealed, but it’s still unclear if the U.S. Supreme Court will take the appeal for its 2025-26 docket. On April 24, 2025, Apache Stronghold filed for an emergency injunction in the U.S. District Court in Phoenix, in response to a letter from the Trump administration that it intended to issue the final environmental impact statement, which would allow the mining to begin 60 days later. On May 9, 2025, the U.S. District Court judge ordered the temporary injunction requested by Apache Stronghold stopping the federal government from issuing the final environmental statement until it’s clear if the U.S. Supreme Court will take the appeal or not.
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