Local opinion: Proposed mine threatens San Pedro River, Aravaipa Canyon

Several months ago, I checked one of my trail cameras in a canyon within the San Pedro River watershed and was stunned by what I saw: an endangered ocelot drinking from a spring, luminous even in the grainy nighttime footage.

The sighting confirmed what conservationists, biologists and locals have long known: The San Pedro and its surrounding wildlands — from the Sky Islands at the border to the Galiuro Mountains and Aravaipa Canyon further north — make up one of the most biologically rich landscapes left in the American Southwest.

It’s also under assault.

One of the most recent threats comes from a company called Faraday Copper, sometimes known as Redhawk, which wants to carve a massive open-pit and block cave mine into the heart of this wild country. The proposed Copper Creek Mine — spanning an astounding 28-square-mile project area near Mammoth — would bring heavy industrialization, open pits and extreme land subsidence to an area that serves as a lifeline for endangered species, from jaguars and ocelots to the Mexican spotted owl and yellow-billed cuckoo.

The project is moving forward under a mining law that dates back to 1872. It’s a relic of the past that allows companies to guzzle unlimited groundwater without considering the long-term harm it will cause to wildlife, ranchers or rural communities. That would leave the San Pedro and its tributaries — which already suffer from too much groundwater pumping — even drier and more vulnerable than ever.

The harm it will cause to local communities and Indigenous nations is just as troubling. The San Carlos Apache Tribe has repeatedly asked the Bureau of Land Management to take its concerns into consideration, but their requests have been ignored. These lands hold deep cultural and spiritual significance, yet the agency tasked with overseeing this process has treated Tribal concerns as an afterthought.

This disregard for Indigenous voices is unacceptable. Local community members who could find massive toxic tailing piles near their homes, churches and schools have also been largely ignored.

But this disastrous project could still be stopped.

The Bureau of Land Management has recently opened a 45-day public comment period on its draft Environmental Assessment for the Copper Creek exploratory drilling project. Even in this preliminary stage, the company plans to bore 67 drill sites deep into the ground, and each drill rig would use 70,000 gallons of water per month. This massive groundwater extraction will begin long before full-scale mining operations, further depleting an already strained resource.

A public meeting is scheduled for March 6, and the agency will accept written comments through April 14. This is perhaps our only opportunity to push back and demand that the BLM fully account for the irreversible harms this project could bring.

During this comment period, agency officials are legally required to respond to public input and concerns.

If you care about the San Pedro, about Aravaipa, about the future of our state’s dwindling water supplies or about one of the most vibrant desert landscapes in the country, now is the time to speak up. Tell the BLM that our water, our wildlife, our communities and our cultural heritage are not for sale.

Some places are too valuable to sacrifice — this is one of them.