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RANCHO RESORT MAINTANANCE POSITION Health Care Sierra Tucson Eating Disorders Program Coordinator General A1 Communications Cable Techs Tucson RegionBill would halt Coronado mine claimsSanta Ritas controversy spurs joint effort by Grijalva, Giffords
arizona daily star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.19.2007
Spurred by the controversy surrounding plans to develop a copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains, U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva has introduced legislation that would prevent any future mine claims in the Coronado National Forest.
The legislation also would stop any future mine claims on select parcels of Pima County-owned land — notably preserves, land used for grazing and county land on which the federal government retains subsurface rights.
"The whole effect of the Rosemont proposition was a huge issue and continues to be a huge issue in Southern Arizona," said Grijalva, a Southern Arizona Democrat.
It was unclear how many current claims exist in the Coronado National Forest. It would be difficult to compile that information, said Richard Ahern, the forest's minerals program manager. But it would be safe to say that across the entire forest, the number of claims is relatively small.
But in some select areas, the concentration of claims is particularly high.
"If you look at a particular area, it could be pretty intense," Ahern said.
And people do act on their claims, albeit with not as much fanfare as with the Rosemont proposal. Canadian-based Augusta Resource Corp. is looking to develop an open-pit copper-molybdenum-silver mine in an ecologically sensitive area in Rosemont Canyon, on the eastern slope of the Santa Ritas.
"There are any number of projects; they just don't have the higher profile that some of the bigger projects recently have had," Ahern said.
The proposed legislation is co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat who represents Southern Arizona.
It will span Pima and Santa Cruz counties and will cover the Catalina, Rincon, Santa Rita and Tumacacori mountain ranges as well as Patagonia, said Rachel Kondor, senior legislative assistant for Grijalva.
From here, the bill will move to committee.
"This is something that people have been urging us to move on and do something about," said Grijalva, who sits on the House Committee for Natural Resources. "Is it as expansive and far-reaching as some people would want it? No. But it is important and precedent-setting nationally for public lands."
● Contact reporter Josh Brodesky at 807-7789 or jbrodesky@azstarnet.com.
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