Public Statements

President Joseph R. BidenFirst Lady Jill BidenThe White House1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20500 Dear Mr. President and Dr. Biden: On behalf of the nearly 17,000 members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe (“Tribe”), I humbly request your assistance to save Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, known as Oak Flat, which is a Traditional Cultural Property listed on the National Register of Historic Places and located on public land in southeastern Arizona. A backroom rider called the Southeastern Arizona Land Exchange was parachuted as Section 3003 into the FY15 National Defense Authorization Act, P.L. 113-291, in the waning hours of the 113th Congress. [...]

Congress now has the opportunity to correct a travesty that occurred in 2014 when a last-minute, nongermane provision was inserted, without debate, into the annual National Defense Authorization Act that threatens to destroy a Native American religious site in Arizona by passing the Save Oak Flat Act. The current legislation, introduced by House Natural Resources Chairman Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) would repeal Section 3003 of the NDAA for fiscal year 2015 that authorized the Southeastern Arizona Land Exchange between foreign-owned Resolution Copper Company and the Tonto National Forest. Among the 2,422 acres of public land that would be transferred to Resolution is Chí’chil Biłdagoteel, which is also known [...]

Via E-mail and U.S. Postal Service on March 29, 2021 The Honorable Doug Ducey GovernorState of Arizona1700 W. Washington St. Phoenix, AZ 85007 [email protected] Dear Governor Ducey: I am extremely disappointed in the inaccurate statements and flagrant omissions of fact in your March 16, 2021 letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack concerning the proposed massive mine of foreign-owned conglomerates Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton though their limited liability company, Resolution Copper. Virtually all Arizona Indian tribes oppose this dangerous mine because it will destroy public land of significant historical, religious, cultural, and archeological value, including Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, also known as Oak [...]

An op-ed by Chairman Terry Rambler. The Jan. 21 guest opinion written by Resolution Copper Company’s project director Andrew Lye grossly misleads the public when he states that “Native American tribes are very much at the table shaping this project.” As Chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, I unequivocally state we, along with the National Congress of Indians and the Inter-Tribal Association of Arizona (ITAA), remain vehemently opposed to the construction of the Resolution Mine 70 miles east of Phoenix. This project will desecrate Chich’il Bildagoteel, also known as Oak Flat, which is the heart of our religious and cultural [...]