In its waning days, the Trump administration is rushing to transfer thousands of acres of Arizona public lands that are holy to the Apache and other Tribes so a copper company can develop a vast, Earth-scarring mine. And not just any copper company: One of Resolution Copper’s parent companies, Rio Tinto, is responsible for the destruction of a 46,000-year-old Aboriginal site in Australia. 

The U.S. Forest Service has moved the date to complete its review of the Resolution Copper mine east of Superior to the end of 2020, pushing the fiercely debated project into the fast lane before President Donald Trump leaves office.

Tribal activists, geologists and water experts, and a former mayor appeared before a congressional subcommittee in Washington on March 12 to deliver a message: Congress should stop the upcoming destruction of an area east of Phoenix for a copper mine. 

Wendsler Nosie Sr., broke his arm when he was 9, the sort of thing that happens to 9-year-old boys. He didn't know it then, but the accident would help shape his life as a Native cultural rights activist.

Wendsler Nosie, former chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe and leader of Apache Stronghold, surveys land near Skunk Camp Wash where Resolution Copper is already prepping a tailings site even though it's not been approved yet. Nosie is against the tailings site because historical remnants of a Native American village will be destroyed.