Save the Scenic Santa Ritas

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

A Successful Rally

A Successful Rally

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We had a very successful Rally to Save the Santa Ritas in downtown Tucson in front of the Federal building on Saturday, April 13.

About 300 sign-waving people were there along with three jaguars. You’ll see a couple of the jaguars in the photos.

The speakers were Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, in whose district the mine site is located; Ruben Reyes, District Director for Congressman Raúl Grijalva; Austin Nuñez, President of the San Xavier District of the Tohono O’odham Nation; Councilmember Regina Romero, Tucson City Council; Supervisor Sharon Bronson, Pima County Board of Supervisors; and Chairman Richard Elías, Pima County Board of Supervisors.

All pointed out that this mine would have enormous, long-term negative impacts that would far outweigh any short-term positive ones. Also they all emphasized that the Santa Ritas are NOT THE RIGHT PLACE for an open-pit copper mine!!

Retired biologist Mike Ward sang a wonderful song that he had written called, “Adios, Rosemont Copper.”  The words are below.

We’ll keep you posted, as the legal wheels start turning regarding this truly egregious mining proposal.

Gayle Hartmann, SSSR President

Adios Rosemont Copper

Our parents all told us when we were just kids
Beware of kind strangers who come bearing gifts
These miners from Canada all seem very nice
But a nagging voice tells me we’d better think twice

They reach out their hands and assure that they’ll be
So kind and so gentle with our grasses and trees
They’ll refill our wells and pipe water for free
Hell, they even give money to Public TV

(Chorus)

Well thanks, but no thanks
We’ll get along fine Please pack up your shovels
And head down the line
No gracious amigos
Though you’ve been so very kind
Thanks, but no thanks
We’ll get along fine
Adios Rosemont Copper
We don’t need your mine

They promise to hide the pit from our view
Just another swell favor they’re willing to do
The Red-tails will gaze at the gash from above
We can’t let them tear up those hills that we love

(Chorus)

Someday we’ll wake up from this surreal dream
The Santa Ritas will shine out so clear and so green
Our new friends from Canada can come and enjoy
Those sweet, sacred mountains they tried to destroy

(Chorus)
Adios Rosemont Copper
We don’t need your mine

@Copyright 2011 Michael K. Ward

It’s Not Over!

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A message from SSSR President Gayle Hartmann:

It’s Not Over!

We are disappointed but not surprised that the Army Corps of Engineers has granted the Clean Water Act 404 permit for the proposed Rosemont Mine in the Santa Rita Mountains.

In doing so, they rejected the recommendation from their own Los Angeles District office as well as ignoring the many serious concerns expressed by the EPA and other agencies.

As you may know, a case is working its way through Federal court in Tucson right now. The crux of the case is our contention that the Environmental Impact Statement and Coronado National Forest Service Record of Decision are based on numerous violations of federal law. We’ll keep you informed as this moves forward. If/when we win, the whole shebang goes back to the drawing board!

What you can do:

As you all know:

Water Matters More!

Clean Air Matters More!

Our Cultural Heritage Matters More!

The Economies of Local Communities Matter More!

A Scenic Highway Matters More!

Jaguars, Ocelots and Black Bears Matter More!

A Beautiful Mountain Matters More!

The World We Leave To Our Grandchildren and Great-grandchildren Matters More!

Many thanks to you all for your long-term support!

Keep the faith,

Gayle Hartmann, president

Save the Scenic Santa Ritas

Manuel and Elías: Rosemont mine would bring devastation to Southern Arizona

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By Edward Manuel and Richard Elías Special to the Arizona Daily Star – 

The moment of decision for the Rosemont Mine, with its mile-wide pit, toxic waste, roads, and processing facilities — and together with it, the fate of our cherished Santa Rita Mountains — is coming ever closer. Despite the destruction of the natural and cultural resources they are entrusted to protect, two of the three principal federal agencies involved in authorizing the project — the U. S. Forest Service and Arizona Department of Environmental Quality — already have approved the Rosemont Mine.

These agencies have attempted to placate us with assurances that the mine, slated to be one of the largest copper mines in the world, won’t harm the water, wildlife or the sacred character of the land on which native peoples have lived for thousands of years. They use the nice-sounding phrase “resolution of adverse effects” to imply that that the adverse impacts from the Rosemont mine can be easily “fixed” or mitigated.

This is what the U.S. Forest Service and Canadian mining company Hudbay would like us to believe — that there would be no reduction to our municipal water supply, no loss of wetlands, no degradation of surface water quality, no loss of watershed function, no impacts to our natural, cultural, and human environment, and no impacts to our community and our citizens. This could not be farther from the truth. There simply is no mitigation adequate to offset the impacts from an open pit mine that would destroy more than 5,000 acres of mostly Coronado National Forest land.

Read more…

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Selected Lens on the Land Photographs

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Partial view of the proposed mine site, looking west, by Cheryl Rogos
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