Rep. Grijalva Introduces New Legislation to Protect Public Lands Surrounding Oak Flat from Foreign Exploitation

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Adelita S. Grijalva (AZ-07) released the following statement after introducing legislation to preserve public lands in the Chi’chil Biłdagotel Historical District that lie directly adjacent to the land that was transferred to Resolution Copper following the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling last Friday. 

Her legislation directs the Secretary of Agriculture to preserve the natural condition of the public land and prohibit mining related activities including rights-of-way, toxic waste pipelines, road development, and related infrastructure on the public land in the Chí’chil Biłdagoteel Historic District.  

Additionally, the bill requires the Secretary to engage in government-to-government consultations with Indian tribes with ties to the Chí’chil Biłdagoteel Historic District and enter into cooperative agreements requested by these Indian tribes to ensure access for traditional activities and preservation of sacred and cultural areas. The full text of the bill is available here.  

“While I am deeply disappointed by the Ninth Circuit’s ruling, the fight to save Oak Flat does not stop here,” said Rep. Grijalva. “Thousands of acres of public land surrounding the transferred parcel remain at risk, and these lands are sacred to the Apache people. Congress must act to immediately preserve a site of immense cultural, spiritual, and natural significance. We cannot enable the destruction of Oak Flat by turning a blind eye to all of the disruptive mining infrastructure and toxic waste that will irreparably harm the surrounding lands.” 

A map of the Oak Flat region is available for download here. The area encompassed by the purple “TCP Boundary” (but not including the portions that overlap with the “Exchange Parcel”), would be protected from mining-related activities under Rep. Grijalva’s proposed legislation. 

Resolution Copper is a joint venture between two of the world’s largest foreign owned mining entities formed to acquire public land at Oak Flat to extract United States copper located beneath the site, primarily for export to the People’s Republic of China.  

They have proposed the development of significant mining-related infrastructure throughout Tonto National Forest, including large parts of the Chí’chil Biłdagoteel Historic District that were not transferred to Resolution Copper:  

The following elected officials and organizations provided the below statements: 

“Chi'chil Biłdagoteel, or Oak Flat, is a sacred place, one too special to mine,” said Rep. Jared Huffman, Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee. “The Trump administration’s decision to transfer Oak Flat, to Resolution Copper is a disgrace and an insult to the San Carlos Apache Tribe and the many other Tribes who have held this place dear and as a place of prayer and ceremony since time immemorial. This is a human rights violation, environmental disaster in the making, and multibillion-dollar giveaway to multinational mining companies. I am proud to cosponsor Representative Grijalva’s Preserve Chi'chil Biłdagoteel Historic Act and will continue to fight with the Apache peoples to protect Oak Flat.” 

“Chí’chil Biłdagoteel — Oak Flat — is a sacred place of prayer, culture, and identity for Tribal Nations, and it deserves protection from further harm,” said Rep. Leger Fernández. “After the transfer of over 2,000 acres of Oak Flat to a foreign-owned mining corporation, Congress has an even greater responsibility to safeguard the surrounding lands in the Chí’chil Biłdagoteel Historic District. Protecting Tribal sovereignty, scarce water resources, and irreplaceable cultural heritage is not optional — it’s our responsibility.” 

“Oak Flat is sacred. That is why generations have fought to protect these lands—and why we will keep fighting. This week’s decision by Donald Trump and his Administration to hand over title of these lands to a foreign-owned mining company is a betrayal of U.S. Tribal trust and treaty responsibilities and the moral responsibility of the U.S. government protect our national security, indigenous sacred sites, and our public lands,” said Rep. Stansbury. “I stand with Tribal leaders and advocates in Arizona and New Mexico in the continued fight to protect Oak Flat and we will not stop until it is protected.” 

“Shame on USDA and its accomplices for giving away title to 2,422 acres of the Chí’chil Biłdagoteel Historic District to Resolution Copper. This Traditional Cultural Place is listed on the National Register of Historic Places due its unique historical, cultural, and religious significance. This giveaway of sacred land is causing untold suffering and pain that will last for generations to come,” said Chairman Terry Rambler of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. “Resolution Copper’s foreign-owned parent corporations, Rio Tinto and BHP, plan to blow up this area to extract ore, which will result in a 2-mile crater over 1,000 feet deep.  USDA is prioritizing the pocketbooks of foreign corporations with ties to the People’s Republic of China over the First Americans. We thank Rep. Grijalva for introducing this bill to protect the remaining parts of the Historic District and requiring that USDA enter into cooperative agreements with Tribal governments with ties to the area to ensure that cultural resources are preserved.  This bill is needed; otherwise, USDA will allow Resolution Copper to ravage and destroy this public land too." 

“The decision to hand over Chí’chil Biłdagoteel is a shameful betrayal and a profound injustice to our people. This is not just land—it is a sacred place where our ancestors prayed, where our ceremonies continue, and where our identity is rooted,” said Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr., Apache Stronghold. “Now, it faces permanent destruction for the benefit of foreign mining interests. We are grateful for Rep. Adelita Grijalva’s legislation to protect what remains and we will continue to stand together to preserve the Traditional Cultural Place of Chí’chil Biłdagoteel Historic District for future generations.” 

“This bill offers a clear path to protect Chí’chil Biłdagoteel, or Oak Flat, as both a sacred cultural landscape and a vital ecological refuge,” said Russ McSpadden from the Center for Biological Diversity. “It would safeguard groundwater, springs, wildlife habitat, native plants and the surrounding desert from a massive mining project that would permanently devastate the area. This legislation recognizes that places of profound cultural significance can also be irreplaceable ecological treasures, and that protecting both isn't just possible, it's essential.” 

“American history is filled with stories of broken promises to our Indigenous neighbors. It is past time that we take violations of their right to worship as seriously as we do our own,” said Rev. Jennifer Hawks, director of advocacy for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. “The irresponsible decision to give away America’s natural resources so that foreign companies can profit should not be compounded by allowing the further destruction of the sacred Apache land known as Chi’chil Bildagoteel that remains entrusted to the U.S. government.” 

"As Reform Jews, we are committed to religious freedom and the protection of sacred spaces for all religious communities,” said Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. “Destroying Oak Flat is a breach of the United States' commitment to religious liberty and an act of profound, irreversible spiritual violence against Indigenous communities. We are proud to support this bill to protect Oak Flat and urge Congress to pass it without delay."  

"Our Indigenous neighbors deserve the same religious freedom protections that are afforded to any house of worship. Sacred land does not require a steeple," said Rabbi David Segal, policy counsel at BJC. "Despite the disappointing outcome of recent litigation, our mission should remain the same: to prevent the further destruction of Oak Flat. This new bill is a vital safeguard against the infrastructure that threatens this sacred space." 

"Oak Flat, or Chi’chil Bildagoteel, is as holy to the Apache as church sanctuaries are to us Christians,” said Avery Lamb, Executive Director of Creation Justice Ministries. “We grieve and lament recent litigation resulting in the land transfer of this sacred land to the foreign owned Resolution Copper that would not only desecrate Oak Flat, but place the health of those living nearby at risk due to exposure of toxic waste. We know about the importance of sacred space, and we stand alongside the Western Apache Peoples to protect their own. The introduction of the ‘Preserve the Traditional Cultural Place Chí’chil Biłdagoteel Historic District Act’ is an opportunity to turn from desecration of sacred land and turn toward its restoration." 

“While the Oak Flat land exchange has proceeded for now, the work to protect the region is not finished,” said Sandy Bahr, director for Sierra Club's Grand Canyon (Arizona) Chapter. “We must also protect the lands that are not part of the exchange from the harmful impacts of mining. The Preserve the Traditional Cultural Place Chí’chil Biłdagoteel Historic District Act recognizes and safeguards lands that are sacred to Tribal Nations and requires the U.S. Forest Service to cooperate with the affected Tribes. Rep. Grijalva's bill puts sacred Tribal sites, Arizona water, and protection of the land ahead of the interests and excessive profits of multinational mining giants." 

“It is a travesty that the public lands transfer was made, against the wishes of Indigenous communities and stakeholders in the area. This new legislation, however, will ban any activities that adversely impact the landscape or wildlife that surround the mine,” said Garrit Voggesser, Senior Director of Tribal partnerships and Policy at the National Wildlife Federation. “In addition, the legislation calls on the administration to engage in government-to-government consultations with any Tribes that have ties to Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, to preserve sacred and cultural areas and ensure access for traditional Indigenous activities.” 

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