Signs of the Times: Why is Congress giving federally protected Arizona land sacred to the Apache to a massive mining conglomerate?

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 2015 10:11:08 -0700
Subject: Re: Why is Congress giving federally protected Arizona land
sacred to the Apache to a massive mining conglomerate?
To: Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net>
Cc: abdulah aga <abdulahhasic@hotmail.com>, Alice Dampman Humel
<alicedh7@gmail.com>, Blind Democracy Discussion List
<blind-democracy@octothorp.org>, Bob Hachey <bhachey@verizon.net>,
Charles Crawford <ccrawford@rcn.com>, Charles Krugman
<ckrugman@sbcglobal.net>, Claude Everett <ceverett@dslextreme.com>,
David Chittenden <dchittenden@gmail.com>, Frank Ventura
<frank.ventura@littlebreezes.com>, joe harcz Comcast
<joeharcz@comcast.net>, Penny Reeder <penny.reeder@gmail.com>, "R. E.
Driscoll Sr" <llocsirdsr@att.net>, Roger Loran Bailey
<rogerbailey81@aol.com>, "S. Kashdan" <skashdan@scn.org>, Virginia
Jarvis <virginia_jarvis@yahoo.com>, Abby Vincent <aevincent@ca.rr.com>

Signs of the Times. ICE(International Corporate Empire) is emerging.
A raging battle will fall upon us down the road, but it will not be a
revolution. It will be the struggle to the death of the world's Mega
Corporations, each fighting to take total control. So long as the
Ruling Classes can continue confusing and isolating the Masses, the
battles will rage. But if the Working Class and the Disenfranchised
educate themselves and come together, the Empires will fall. We need
more discussion and planning on what will replace these Madmen
Empires.
In part, my support of Bernie Sanders is the belief that through his
campaigning, we will have issues and positions raised that would not
normally be surfaced in a presidential race. Personally, I do not
believe we are even close to a revolution in this country. That gives
us the time to plan. But we cannot plan if we are unable to discuss
broad issues and solutions. The fragmentation of the Political Left
is preventing such discussion. Every time a leader of


one group or another takes a position or decides to run for an office,
the Boo Birds come rolling out, denouncing the individual, his or her
ideas and even attacks on their person. Just like we've been taught
to do by our Masters.
For me, the big question is, can we unteach ourselves and learn to
work together for a United People's Government.
Remember, despite their in-fighting, the Mega Corporations are united
in how they approach the Masses. Will we become the Doers, or will we
become the doodoo on the shoe of Life?

Carl Jarvis

On 6/14/15, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
> And there was an article yesterday about the same company, doing the same
> thing in Peru, and about how indigenous people are trying to fight back.
>
> Miriam
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Carl Jarvis [mailto:carjar82@gmail.com]
> Sent: Sunday, June 14, 2015 11:39 AM
> To: Miriam Vieni
> Cc: abdulah aga; Alice Dampman Humel; Blind Democracy Discussion List; Bob
> Hachey; Charles Crawford; Charles Krugman; Claude Everett; David Chittenden;
> Frank Ventura; joe harcz Comcast; Penny Reeder; R. E. Driscoll Sr; Roger
> Loran Bailey; S. Kashdan; Virginia Jarvis
> Subject: Why is Congress giving federally protected Arizona land sacred to
> the Apache to a massive mining conglomerate?
>
> The answer to how such legislation can be crammed through, is simple.
> We live in a sham democracy. If we cannot come to an understanding that
> this Land of the Free and Home of the Brave did not include us, the Working
> Class and the "Under Class", and the disenfranchise, then we are doomed to
> become further enslaved. This disdain for the Sacred Land of Indigenous
> People living in Arizona, but not allowed to have a voice, should cry out a
> warning to all of us who are not members of the Privileged People, the ones
> for whom this government was established. We, the rest of us living on this
> Land, are a natural resource whose purpose is to give our labor, our minds,
> our Souls, and our lives to protect and further the causes of the
> Privileged.
>
> Ps. I added Abby as a BCC, and will put her on my list later today...I
> hope.
>
> Carl Jarvis
>
>
> On 6/12/15, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
>> This is really terrible. There is something incredibly dishonest about
>> how legislation gets passed in what is supposed to be a democrracy.
>>
>> Miriam
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Carl Jarvis [mailto:carjar82@gmail.com]
>> Sent: Friday, June 12, 2015 8:35 PM
>> To: carjar82
>> Cc: abdulah aga; Alice Dampman Humel; Blind Democracy Discussion List;
>> Bob Hachey; Charles Crawford; Charles Krugman; Claude Everett; David
>> Chittenden; Frank Ventura; joe harcz Comcast; Miriam Vieni; Penny
>> Reeder; R. E. Driscoll Sr; Roger Loran Bailey; S. Kashdan; Virginia
>> Jarvis
>> Subject: Why is Congress giving federally protected Arizona land
>> sacred to the Apache to a massive mining conglomerate?
>>
>> Why is Congress giving federally protected Arizona land sacred to the
>> Apache to a massive mining conglomerate?
>> February 20, 2015 11:15AM ET |Updated April 14, 2015 1:30PM ET by
>> Serene Fang - @fangsey & Adam May - @adammaytv
>>
>> SUPERIOR, Ariz. – A place of great natural beauty, popular among rock
>> climbers and campers, a part of Tonto National Forest known as Oak
>> Flat has been under federal protection from mining since 1955, by
>> special order of President Eisenhower.
>>
>> On the nearby San Carlos Apache reservation, many consider Oak Flat to
>> be sacred, ancestral land – the home of one of their gods and the site
>> of traditional Apache ceremonies.
>>
>> But Oak Flat also sits on top of one of the world's largest deposits
>> of copper ore. Resolution Copper Mining, a subsidiary of
>> British-Australian mining conglomerate Rio Tinto, has sought ownership
>> of the land for a decade, lobbying Congress to enact special
>> legislation on its behalf more than a dozen times since 2005.
>>
>> Year after year the bills failed to pass. But in December, the
>> legislation was was quietly passed into law as part of the
>> 2015 National Defense Authorization Act.
>> Arizona Sen. John McCain, who has long championed the deal, said the
>> land exchange would " maintain the strength of the most
>> technologically advanced military in the world " since copper is the
>> second-most-utilized mineral by the Department of Defense.
>>
>> As part of the deal, Resolution Copper will swap roughly 7.8 square
>> miles of land scattered across Arizona for roughly 3.8 square miles of
>> Tonto National Forest, which includes Oak Flat. The new legislation
>> will open up Oak Flat for copper mining.
>>
>> But critics say the move allows the company to privatize the land and
>> make an end run around critical environmental and cultural
>> protections. What's more Resolution Copper can't promise that any of
>> the copper produced by the mine will remain in the United States –
>> which raises the question: How does this help national defense?
>>
>> 'A bad feeling'
>>
>> Apache tribal council member Wendsler Nosie Sr. has been flying to
>> Washington, D.C., to fight the land exchange for years. But this time,
>> he said he could tell something was different. Tribal representatives
>> were in the Capitol for the annual White House Tribal Conference when
>> he heard the news.
>>
>> #
>>
>> What's playing out with Oak Flat is an all-too-familiar scene for
>> Wendsler Nosie Sr., left, seen here speaking with America Tonight's Adam
>> May.
>> What's playing out with Oak Flat is an all-too-familiar scene for
>> Wendsler Nosie Sr., left, seen here speaking with America Tonight's
>> Adam May.America Tonight
>>
>> "We got wind that there might be some movements happening in
>> Washington," he said. "It was a bad feeling because when I got there,
>> you knew something was moving, where you were asking questions night
>> and day but nobody was giving us a definite answer."
>>
>> Negotiated behind closed doors and with no public discussion, details
>> of the land swap were first revealed shortly before midnight, the day
>> before the 1,600-page defense bill was up for consideration in the
>> House of Representatives. A day later, the bill passed the House.
>>
>> For Nosie, the story was all too familiar. Historical records show
>> that vast amounts of land once under Apache control were carved out of
>> the reservation by the U.S. government to enable mining at the turn of the
>> century.
>> Private companies extracted a fortune in minerals with minimal benefit
>> to the tribe.
>>
>> "Look at all the mines here already," Nosie said. "Look at all the
>> things they took from us. Seventy percent unemployment, that already
>> tells you where it's going. It's not going to benefit anybody here.
>> What's going to be left is contamination."
>>
>> Arizona is one of the most heavily mined states in the country and a
>> major copper producer. The Government Accountability Office estimates
>> that there are roughly 50,000 abandoned hard rock mining sites in the
>> state, contributing to environmental problems such as contaminated water
>> and soil.
>>
>> The mine's local impact
>>
>> The Apaches aren't the only people who will be affected by a new mine.
>> Framed by the striking Apache Leap Mountains, the tiny town of
>> Superior is just a few miles west of the proposed mine site.
>>
>> The town has weathered tough years since the last mine closed, with
>> boarded-up buildings on Main Street, a dwindling population and
>> millions of dollars of debt.
>>
>> Steve Cooper is the town attorney and, surprisingly, he says the town
>> officially withdrew its support for the land exchange almost two years
>> ago.
>>
>> "We are a community of miners. We want to mine. We would love to have
>> a mine in the community," said Cooper. "Our concern is basically this:
>> We lost our
>> mine in 1986. We have lived the consequences now for 30 years. It has
>> a devastating effect on the community. Until you understand exactly
>> what is going on and what the impact's going to be on the community,
>> you can't make an agreement until all the facts are on the table."
>>
>> According to Cooper, the destruction of Oak Flat and dumping of mining
>> byproducts will reduce the town's appeal as a tourism destination. The
>> Town Council wants the company to pay a mining tax, amounting to
>> one-tenth of 1 percent of the value of the ore.
>>
>> "When you look at the amount of money that they claim is out there in
>> that ore body, and what they're going to take, at the end of the day,
>> it's an issue of fairness," Cooper said.
>>
>> But the copper ore lies outside town limits and the company doesn't
>> need Superior's blessing to proceed.
>>
>> 'We need a boost'
>>
>> Resolution Copper is a subsidiary of British-Australian mining giant,
>> Rio Tinto. After initially declining to speak to America Tonight,
>> Project Manager Andrew Taplin agreed to an interview after our story was
>> published.
>> He defended the mine as an economic boon.
>>
>> "The project is going to generate 3,700 jobs, $60 billion of economic
>> benefit for the state of Arizona and have a 40-year life," he said.
>>
>> That prospect has won the company plenty of supporters in town.
>> Resolution Copper currently employs around 300 workers in the state,
>> including John Allison, a miner with six children.
>>
>> "Mining is huge," he said. "It affords us a way to make a good living
>> and still stay home to raise our children in a small community in the
>> fashion that we were raised."
>>
>> Bill Vogel retired to Superior eight years ago. An avid hiker and
>> outdoorsman, he says he joined a working group put together by
>> Resolution Copper to find out more about the company's plan in the
>> community. Today, he is one of the company's biggest supporters and
>> the head of the Superior Copper Alliance.
>>
>> Not all Arizona residents are against Resolution Copper's plan. Bill
>> Vogler, a resident of Superior, Arizona, is one of the group's biggest
>> supporters.
>> Not all Arizona residents are against Resolution Copper's plan. Bill
>> Vogler, a resident of Superior, Arizona, is one of the group's biggest
>> supporters.America Tonight
>>
>> "The way I look at things in the big picture, somebody is eventually
>> going to mine. I mean, it's not going to lay there," said Vogler. "The
>> town's in deep debt. And without some kind of help from somebody,
>> we're going to go under. We need a boost."
>>
>> Vogler says that while he doesn't think the mine is a matter of
>> national defense, the politics surrounding the issue doesn't bother him.
>>
>> "This same procedure has been going on forever in Congress," said
>> Vogler. "I think every bill should stand on its own. But you know how
>> little would get done if every bill stood on its own in Congress?"
>>
>> Look before you leap?
>>
>> Still, what bothers many here is that Resolution Copper may be able to
>> mine the land with little regard for the environmental impact.
>>
>> Under the terms of the land swap legislation, the company is required
>> to work with the U.S. Forest Service to do an environmental impact
>> study under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, but it is
>> also guaranteed to get the land, no matter what the study shows.
>>
>> Once the land is in private ownership, NEPA obligations no longer
>> apply. The legislation specifies that the Resolution Copper will get
>> the land within 60 days of the publication the environmental study,
>> before the full NEPA process is completed, limiting the Forest
>> Service's ability to modify the company's mining plans in the public
>> interest.
>>
>> "NEPA is a look-before-you-leap document. It's an information-gathering
>> law.
>> So if you've already made the decision to give the land, then what's
>> the point?" said Roger Featherstone, director of the environmental
>> group Arizona Mining Reform. "The whole study becomes meaningless."
>>
>> One of the most controversial components of Resolution Copper's
>> project centers on how the company plans to extract the copper.
>> Eschewing a more traditional
>> method of mining as too expensive, the company announced it will use a
>> cheaper method called block cave mining, which will result in a crater
>> two miles wide and up to 1,000 feet deep, destroying the surface of the
>> land.
>> Block cave mining will also generate nearly a cubic mile of mine
>> waste, which the company proposes to leave on a parcel of Forest
>> Service land, just outside the town of Superior.
>>
>> J. Scott Wood is an archeologist who spent 40 years working for the U.S.
>> Forest Service in Tonto National Forest. His job was to find and
>> protect archeological sites and places of cultural importance to
>> Apaches and other tribes affiliated with the forest.
>>
>> "'NEPA is a look-before-you-leap document. It's an
>> information-gathering law. So if you've already made the decision to
>> give the land, then what's the point?'"
>>
>> —Roger Featherstone
>>
>> director, Arizona Mining Reform
>>
>> Wood, able to speak freely now that he's retired, says the Forest
>> Service has a clear rules to permit mining on federal lands, but
>> Resolution Copper's new legislation short-circuits that process.
>>
>> "It's bypassed all the normal kinds of analysis that we would have
>> done for this kind of project," Wood said. "We were actually looking
>> forward to the idea of running the project as a normal mining project,
>> instead of a land exchange, since the bill kept not being passed and
>> not being passed, where we could look at alternative mining methods."
>>
>> He added: "Everybody could have walked away with what they needed.
>> Apaches could have access to a place that isn't going to be destroyed.
>> The mining company
>> could get the profits from the copper."
>>
>> America Tonight also made multiple attempts to reach the Arizona
>> congressional delegation that advocated for the land swap: Republican
>> Sens.
>> John McCain and Jeff Flake, and Rep. Paul Gosar plus Democratic Rep.
>> Ann Kirkpatrick. All declined to comment or did not respond.
>>
>> "At the end of the day I think the American people are getting
>> short-changed badly. They are going to lose an exquisite, beautiful
>> piece of landscape that belongs to them," said Wood. "And yet a
>> foreign-owned company is going to manage to make billions of dollars
>> of profit off of resources that belong to the entire American public,
>> and that's the ultimate description of what happened here."
>>
>> Taplin of Resolution Copper insisted the company was doing everything
>> possible to limit potential harm caused by the mine.
>>
>> "We're committed to developing the safest and the most environmentally
>> friendly mine," he said. "We're already working with the federal
>> regulators to ensure that we follow all of their regulations."
>>
>> Copper is also vital in today's modern world, he said, and it's
>> important to recognize the value the mine will create.
>>
>> "The copper that's going to be produced from this mine will go into
>> all of those essential items that we use on a day-to-day basis," he
>> said, "from our telephone to renewable energy sources, to the hybrid
>> cars that we see on the road."
>>
>> Under the new federal law, in exchange for the 2,400 acres of
>> copper-rich land from Tonto National Forest, Resolution Copper will
>> also give taxpayers 5,000 acres of environmentally-sensitive land.
>>
>> Resolution Copper contracted the nonprofit The Nature Conservancy to
>> manage one of those parcels of along the San Pedro River. Resolution
>> Copper's representative in the arrangement, Celeste Andersen, told
>> America Tonight that it offers vital habitat and water for wildlife
>> and rare birds, making it a conservation priority.
>>
>> "I think just looking at the property speaks for itself," said Andersen.
>> "You're looking at an intact mesquite bosque, Sonoran Desert Uplands,
>> a river that is undammed and just beautiful wild habitat."
>>
>> Making a stand
>>
>> President Obama signed the defense bill into law in mid-December, but
>> the San Carlos Apaches say they haven't given up yet. Tribal members
>> organized a two-day protest march to draw attention to their cause,
>> walking 44 miles along the highway from the reservation to Oak Flat.
>>
>> Nosie speaks at a recent protest against the Resolution Copper deal.
>> Nosie speaks at a recent protest against the Resolution Copper
>> deal.America Tonight
>>
>> The San Carlos Apaches aren't alone. Hundreds of supporters attended
>> the gathering, while some tribe members pitched tents to signal their
>> intention to occupy the land. Environmental groups like the Sierra
>> Club and Arizona Mining Reform, and more than 500 other tribes have
>> voiced opposition to the land exchange.
>>
>> Nosie says the protest marks the beginning of a new phase in the
>> tribe's struggle against the mine. The next step will be a long-term
>> occupation of Oak Flat by San Carlos tribe members.
>>
>> "We are not going to vacate this area. We are going to stand here as
>> Indian people," Nosie said in an address to a crowd of supporters at
>> Oak Flat. "It is time to face Congress and tell them our demands –
>> nonviolently, religiously; to keep what is sacred and what is holy."
>>
>> But just up the road, Resolution Copper has already completed work on
>> a new exploratory shaft. Reaching a depth of 7,000 feet, it is the
>> deepest shaft in North America. According to the company's website, it
>> will be used to gather information on the ore beneath, anticipating
>> when the land will be theirs.
>>
>> This article was updated April 14, 2015, to include the response of
>> Resolution Copper.
>>
>>
>
>