US Government lawsuit (re land swap of sacred land to Resolution Copper, USA)
Sources
Snapshot: In January 2021, the Apache Stronghold sued the US Government to prevent a land transfer of sacred Oak Flat to Resolution Copper. In March 2026, a US Court of Appeals lifted an injunction temporarily blocking the land transfer, allowing the land swap to proceed.
In January 2021, the Apache Stronghold - a coalition of Apache, other Indigenous Peoples, and individuals committed to protecting Oak Flat - filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in Phoenix against the US Government to prevent a land transfer of the sacred Oak Flat in Tonto National Forest to Resolution Copper. They argued that Oak Flat is vital to the religious and cultural identity of the Apache People and the environment would be harmed by the copper mining activities.
In February 2021, the District court dismissed the plaintiffs’ demand for a temporary restraining order “preventing Defendants from publishing a Final Environmental Impact Statement . . . and from conveying the parcel(s) of land containing Oak Flat.” The Apache Stronghold filed an appeal.
In March 2021, pending the appeal, the Biden administration paused the process and withdrew the environmental impact statement (EIS) to review concerns from Native American tribes through further consultations. The US Forest Service announced the conclusion of the consultation in 2023.
On 24 June 2022, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit refused to block the transfer of Oak Flat to Resolution Copper, finding no substantial burden on Apache religious practices. Judge Marsha Berzon dissented forcefully, labeling the ruling “absurd,” “illogical,” “disingenuous,” and “incoherent.” In November 2022, the court agreed to rehear the case “en banc”, i.e. before all 11 judges, and handed over its ruling in March 2024, allowing the land swap. Five judges dissented, arguing that the majority had “tragically erred” in permitting the government to “obliterate Oak Flat” and depriving the Western Apache of the ability to practice their religion in the future.
In May 2023, Resolution Copper joined the case as an intervenor defendant.
In April 2024, Apache Stronghold asked the court to reconsider its decision, but in May 2024, the court denied this request. Apache Stronghold appealed the decision to the US Supreme Court on 11 September 2024. In the meantime, on 9 May 2025, a US Arizona District Judge temporarily halted the land transfer until the US Supreme Court decision. On 27 May 2025, the US Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal, leaving the decision of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in place. Justice Gorsuch, joined by Justice Thomas, dissented and called the refusal a “grievous mistake.”
The US Forest Service published the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Oak Flat mine on 17 June 2025, which restarted the 60‑day countdown for the land transfer to Resolution Copper despite ongoing litigation and tribal objections.
In a related case brought by the San Carlos Apache Tribe seeking to halt the land swap, on 18 August 2025, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals issued a temporary restraining order halting Resolution Copper’s planned mine on the sacred Oak Flat site in Arizona.
In October 2025, the US Supreme Court declined to rehear the case for the second time.
On 7 January 2026, a hearing before the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit took place in the three cases seeking to stop the land swap, and the court is reviewing whether to lift the injunction blocking the land transfer. On 13 March 2026, this court lifted the August 2025 injunction temporarily blocking the land transfer, allowing the land swap to proceed. The court stated that “despite those grave harms to Native religious practice, Congress has chosen to transfer this land, and plaintiffs have not raised any viable challenges to that decision...”.
On 16 March, the Forest Service finalised the land swap by issuing the final “record of decision”, and it was reported that Resolution Copper had begun exploratory drilling.
In April 2026, the Apache Stronghold filed a new lawsuit challenging the swap.
Court documents
Apache Srtonghold US Supreme Court petition for a Writ of certiorari, September 2024
9th US Circuit Court of Appeals decision “en banc” allowing the land swap, March 2024
9th US Circuit Court of Appeals decision, June 2022