FICO and others seek greater mine input

FICO and other opponents of the proposed Rosemont Copper Mine in the Santa Rita Mountains are seeking a process to increase public participation in the decision on whether to allow the mine.

After an independent mediator hired by the federal government gave up on such a process, the organization Save the Scenic Santa Ritas on Thursday announced an alternative proposal for citizens’ working groups to help analyze the issues surrounding the mine and to review thousands of comments given to the Forest Service.

The plan announced by Save the Scenic Santa Ritas would include: A legal framework for the citizens’ working groups under federal or state guidelines; a plan for the working groups to review all comments, and a technical adviser to assist the groups; a realistic time frame, starting no sooner than January 2009; and inclusion of groups previously left out of the process, including Santa Cruz County, the city of Tucson, and regulatory and cooperating agencies such as the Bureau of Reclamation and Arizona Department of Water Resources.

The town of Sahuarita also has been named by the Forest Service a a cooperating agency.

Dick and Nan Walden, president and vice president of Farmers Investment Co., on Dec. 3 sent a letter to Coronado National Forest Supervisor Jeanine Derby, saying they wish to play a role in the review of thousands of comments received by the Forest Service on the proposed mine. The Waldens are opposed to the mine and have retained two high-powered lawyers to fight it. The decision on the mine is up to Derby.

The Dec. 3 letter, also signed by many environmental groups, is an attempt to pick up the ball that was dropped when mediator Carie Fox, a federal contractor, in late November said she could not find a way to work with stakeholders. She said the stakeholders, most of whom were opponents, were too focused on the outcome to stay focused on the process.

Randy Serraglio of the Center for Biological Diversity said, “Our proposal lets the public offer critical analysis of the issues in a way that allows their voices to be heard and respected rather than be manipulated and possibly ignored.”

“We still want to pursue a process that will allow the public to play a role in the drafting of the EIS (environmental impact statement), but want to be sure there is a clear scope of work and that it is a representative process,” said Gayle Hartmann of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, a group endorsed by 68 business, homeowner, conservationist, and recreation organizations.

Fox, of Portland, Ore., was hired by the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, a program of the Morris K. Udall Foundation, at the request of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.

Fox said there was no common ground among pro-mine and anti-mine stakeholders, which made it impossible to maintain any continuity in the process. She said that some opponents viewed a thorough decision-making process as undermining their future efforts to challenge the process on legal grounds.

Fox said that ending her process “means...less public participation in and confidence in any decision reached by the Forest Service.”

However, Pima County Board member Ray Carroll said the approach used by Fox that might have worked was for a traditional mediation, when participants share some common ground, but was hopeless in the face of such polarization. Carroll said everyone who commented was opposed except a handful of people in the mine industry or those hoping for mine jobs.

Even the state Department of Game and Fish, normally somewhat reserved, ripped the proposal, saying a copper mine would ruin the northern half of the mountain range. Environmentalists say the mine would consume too much water. Carroll said the mine’s water plan is for 20 years only, while nearby mines have been operating for 40 to 50 years and may keep drawing water even longer, as mine technology improves.

pfranchine@sahuaritasun.com | 547-9738