What is now scenic land in the Santa Rita Mountains could be an open pit copper mine within a few years, and on Monday, May 12, many Southern Arizonans told the Forest Service what they think of that idea. After being frustrated by a series of open houses where people could learn but not vent, many residents took advantage of the first hearing on the issue.

The mine is proposed for some 4,000 acres of mostly Forest Service land in the northeast Santa Ritas, so the hearing was held in the small nearby community of Elgin. A crowd of several hundred people gathered for the hearing on the proposed Rosemont Mine, and one by one, people expressed their opposition to the plan.

The proposed mine would be built on a stretch of land off of Highway 83. Opponents of the plan who spoke at the hearing raised concerns about the effect the mine would have on the water supply, to the overall impact on the environment.

Despite the opposition voiced by nearby residents, Rosemont Mine General Manager Rod Pace maintains that the mine would bring plenty of positives into the community. Pace says the mine would create about 1,700 jobs a year, with an average salary of almost $60,000, and they would be long-term jobs.

Speakers at the hearing felt that the negatives outweigh the positives, but the reality is that the federal mining law in effect today was passed in 1872. That law makes it easy for companies to put mines on public lands virtually wherever they want, and there’s not too much that anyone can do about it.

There will be two more public hearings on the issue in the month of June, one in Sahuarita and the other in Tucson.