Oak Flat from above

On March 1, 2024, a federal court of appeals has ruled 6-5 that a multinational mining giant’s proposed obliteration of Oak Flat, an Apache holy place in Arizona, wouldn’t break laws protecting religious freedom.

Apache Stronghold — a longtime Center ally — will appeal the case to the Supreme Court. In destroying Oak Flat, the mine would violate Indigenous people’s First Amendment rights. It would also erase habitat for endangered species like ocelots and Arizona hedgehog cacti, suck up massive amounts of precious water, and create 1.4 billion tons of toxic waste. Two other suits over the mine’s impacts, including one of ours, have yet to be decided.

TAKE ACTION. If you live in the U.S., help us call on Congress to pass a law to preserve it for good: https://biodiv.us/49GFbRX

More info: https://www.becketlaw.org/case/apache-stronghold-v-united-states/

? by the Center's Russ McSpadden

This video was featured in our Endangered Earth newsletter, issue 1,235 (March. 7, 2024): https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/publications/earthonline/endangered-earth-online-no1235.html

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The Center for Biological Diversity is a 501c3 nonprofit headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. At the Center, we believe that the welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature — to the existence in our world of a vast diversity of wild animals and plants. Because diversity has intrinsic value, and because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so through science, law and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters and climate that species need to survive.

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