OAK FLAT, Az. - A group of Native American tribes called Apache Stronghold delivered petitions with more than a million signatures to Washington DC on Wednesday in a show of support for a bill to save the Oak Flat area from copper mining.

The federal government agreed to sell the land in the Tonto National Forest to a private developer as part of an amendment tucked into last year's defense bill by Senator John McCain.

Wendsler Nosie, a council member and spokesman for the San Carlos Apache tribe, says Oak Flat is a sacred place that must not be disturbed.

"For us, it's a religious place," says Nosie. "These are the places that God has touched and our identity, our character, who we are as a person has resonated from these places. So it's embedded in our language and our songs, in our ceremonial ways to where our people would return."

U.S. Representative Raul Grijalva introduced the Save Oak Flat Act in June, which would repeal the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange, the deal that transferred the land from the feds to the Resolution Copper company.

Nosie says members of the Apache Stronghold are now camping out at Oak Flat 24/7 to make a point.

"The way they robbed it from all Americans is a nasty way of doing things, so no way are we gonna let them touch this land," he says.

The Save Oak Flat Act has been referred to the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs but has not gotten a hearing or a vote.


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Wyoming is one of several Western states where some lawmakers arguing states should have more control of the federally managed public lands within their borders, many of which contain oil, gas and mineral reserves.

Wyoming House Bill 118 would prohibit Wyomingites and the state from entering into any exchange or sale leading to a net gain for federal agencies of either land or mineral rights.

Gabrielle Yates, public land program manager for the Wyoming Outdoor Council, said the bill runs counter to state policies, which mandate lands be managed for "optimum, sustainable revenue production" and recognize land values are assessed by more than just acreage.

"House Bill 118 would hinder future access opportunities by limiting common sense land deals, while hurting the rights of landowners to sell their land to whoever they choose," Yates contended.

The push for legislation comes after the U.S. Supreme Court last month declined to hear a Utah lawsuit arguing control of public land by the Bureau of Land Management within its borders is unconstitutional. Wyoming, Alaska and Idaho issued an amicus brief in support of Utah's case. House Bill 118 passed the House and could be in a Senate committee as early as this week.

Senate Joint Resolution 2, which failed a third reading in the Senate by just two votes, would have demanded Congress transfer all public land and subsurface resources in Wyoming to the state. Yates pointed out it failed after an "overwhelming" number of Wyomingites spoke out against it.

"Several senators spoke to the fact that this issue was what their constituents were most passionate about this session," Yates reported. "People in Wyoming really value their public lands."

She noted sales of Wyoming trust lands benefit schools and students, like the $100 million sale of the 640-acre Kelly Parcel added to Grand Teton National Park in December.


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Groups that fight to protect public lands are criticizing the Trump administration's new review of all oil, gas and mining on public lands.

National monuments in California protect about 4 million acres of land.

New U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has ordered a 15-day internal review of these sites, which conservation groups warn could be a first step toward altering their boundaries to allow fossil-fuel and mineral extraction. And yet, Daniel Hart, director of clean-energy and climate-resiliency policy at the National Parks Conservation Association, said this would do little to address the "energy emergency" recently declared by President Donald Trump.

"The timeline from starting a lease sale until oil and gas is pumping, and then refined and into the markets, is a long time," he said. "It would not immediately do anything to lower gas prices."

In the past, Carrizo Plain National Monument on the central coast has been eyed for oil and gas development. Other national monuments in California whose boundaries could be re-evaluated include the two newest, Chuckwalla and Sattitla, along with 13 others across the state.

Hart said these public lands are crucial for wildlife habitat and recreation. He pointed out that they pump billions of dollars into the outdoor economy.

"They protect both natural and cultural resources. They are a great place for our shared histories," he said. "But also, there's a public benefit: They support the outdoor recreation economy, especially in rural states."

Across the United States, 24 million acres of public land are already leased to oil and gas companies for fossil-fuel extraction, with more than 12 million acres under active drilling. The NPCA says key monuments outside of California that risk losing protections include Devils Tower in Wyoming and the Dinosaur and Hovenweep national monuments in Utah.

As the Trump administration considers oil, gas and mining on lands owned by all Americans, including in national monuments designated under the Antiquities Act, advocates for public lands warn that some places protected for more than a century could be at risk.

Daniel Hart, director of clean energy and climate policy for the National Parks Conservation Association, says most Coloradans don't want federal protections stripped from places such as Dinosaur National Monument. He says time and again, millions of people have spoken out in defense of America's national monuments.

"They support the outdoor recreation economy, especially in rural states. Those communities nearby are heavily supported by the people who come in and out of these national monuments," he said.

The Trump administration's "Unleashing American Energy" order aims to solidify the United States as a global energy leader by removing what it calls burdensome regulations. Hart said unrestrained and speculative energy development could damage or destroy national monuments -- including Aztec Ruins, Bears Ears, Devils Tower, Hovenweep, Grand Canyon Parashant, Grand Staircase-Escalante and more.

The United States became the world's leading oil producer under the Biden administration, and Hart does not believe there is a need for opening up national monuments for drilling. Some 24 million acres of public lands are already leased to oil and gas companies for fossil-fuel extraction, yet just half are currently active.

"And some lease sales have gone without a bid over the past four years even. The oil industry didn't feel that they needed the land, or they had enough already," he added.

The National Parks Conservation Association is calling on Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to take all national monuments off the table under the new order. Hart said even drilling on lands adjacent to protected areas can lead to industrial contamination of interconnected waterways.

"There's still streams and waters in the Southwest that are unusable by people and animals. That's also a problem with the wildlife, when we tear up their corridors with some of this development for energy," he concluded.