Public Lands

The Santa Rita Mountains rise as a “sky island” from the desert south of Tucson, Arizona. They are a place of remarkable scenic beauty that contain some of the highest quality streams and wetland ecosystems in the American Southwest. This is also a landscape imbued with cultural significance, whose waters and wildlife have sustained Native American cultural and religious life for over 10,000 years. For the Tohono O’odham Nation, Pascua Yaqui Tribe, and Hopi Tribe, these mountains are a place of prayer and respect that must be safeguarded for future generations.

Plaintiffs Tohono O’odham Nation, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, and the Hopi Tribe move the Court for immediate injunctive relief barring Rosemont Copper Company from commencing the development of a new, mile-wide, open-pit copper mine southwest of Tucson. The project will ultimately disinter ancestral remains, obliterate archaeological and cultural sites, and permanently scar the natural beauty of the Santa Rita Mountains. Given the important and unique resources at risk, an injunction pending the Court’s final decision on the merits of this case is necessary and appropriate.