Save the Scenic Santa Ritas

Fighting to protect the Santa Rita and Patagonia Mountains from the devastating impacts of mining.

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About Us

February 13, 2009 By santaritas Leave a Comment

Save the Scenic Santa Ritas (SSSR) is a volunteer-based, non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization, based in Tucson, Arizona.

Our mission: to protect the scenic, aesthetic, recreational, environmental and wildlife values of the Santa Rita Mountains, Patagonia Mountains, Canelo Hills and San Rafael Valley through education and outreach, including protection of these areas from degradation due to mining activities.

We were formed in 1996 to protect the scenic, aesthetic, recreational and wildlife values of the Santa Rita Mountains through education and outreach, including protection of the Santa Ritas from degradation due to mining activities. The group, started in Sonoita, was originally called Swapwatch, and included members of the Sierra Club, Tucson Audubon Society, The Wildlands Project, the Sonoran Institute, League Of Conservation Voters, and the Wrong Mountain Wildlife Preserve, not to mention many local citizens from Tucson, Sonoita, Vail, and Elgin. We incorporated and changed our name to Save the Scenic Santa Ritas in late 1996.

Our main focus in 1996 was stopping the ASARCO/Forest Service land exchange in the Rosemont Valley of the Santa Ritas, and preventing an open pit copper mine there. The land exchange proposal was withdrawn in early 1998, but SSSR continued to monitor the Santa Ritas for new mining proposals.

In 2005 Augusta Resource, a small Canadian junior mining company bought the Rosemont Ranch and has proposed a large open pit copper mine on that property that includes dumping their tailings and waste on the adjacent Coronado National Forest lands, our public lands. We are tracking this proposal in addition to new mining and mineral exploration proposals in the Patagonia Mountains, including the Canelo Hills and San Rafael Valley.

Our short term goal is to prevent any mining from occurring in these areas. Our long term goal is to obtain permanent protection by supporting withdrawal of the Forest Service lands from mineral entry, and protecting the private lands from mining.

General contact information

Save the Scenic Santa Ritas
8987 E. Tanque Verde #309-157
Tucson, AZ 85749

Phone
520-445-6615

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Filed Under: About Us

Recent Posts

  • Litigation Schedule February 17, 2021
  • Links to recent news and letters – 2021 February 15, 2021
  • Links to recent news and letters – 2020 December 31, 2020
  • Long Mountain – a film by Leslie Epperson July 8, 2020
  • A major win for endangered species in the Santa Ritas February 13, 2020

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RSS Latest from Rosemont Mine Truth

  • Pima County reaffirms resolution opposing Rosemont Mine April 19, 2019
  • Hudbay approves $122 million spending plan for “early works” at Rosemont March 29, 2019
  • Hudbay seeking Rosemont Mine joint venture partner after receiving key federal Clean Water Act permit March 15, 2019
  • Hudbay has failed to provide legal justification for Clean Water Act permit, Natural Resources Committee chairman says March 5, 2019

Selected Lens on the Land Photographs

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Litigation Update

Speaking of which (the appeal originally filed in Nov. 2017 challenging the Forest Service’s approval of the mine), we now have a schedule for that case in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals – not definitive, but at least a general time frame:

 

After a lot of negotiating, the lawyers have come to an agreement on the final schedule of our cases before the 9th Circuit Appeals Court. Here is the updated schedule:

  • Feds opening brief due by 1 June 2020
  • Hudbay opening brief due by 15 June 2020
  • Then, our response by 3 September 2020
  • Feds optional reply brief by 2 November 2020
  • Hudbay optional reply brief by 9 November 2020

Click here for more updates

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