Citizen Staff Writer
DAVID L. TEIBEL
dteibel@tucsoncitizen.com
Some 30 protesters with Chuk’shon Earth First! gathered Tuesday morning outside the Federal Building downtown to protest the proposed Rosemont Mine in the Santa Rita Mountains.
The organization said it wanted the U.S. Forest Service to deny a permit for the mine and institute a ban on new mines within national forests.
It also wants to repeal the 1872 mining law that Earth First! says prioritized mining over other uses of public land and to increase public involvement in land-use decisions for national forests.
The proposed open-pit copper mine has drawn heated debate over water use and what it would do to a pristine mountain view.
The protesters at one point moved onto West Congress Street to block traffic, but returned to the sidewalk in front of the Federal Building when told to do so by police, said Sgt. Fabian Pacheco, a Tucson police spokesman.
The protest was held from about 8 to 10 a.m., Pacheco said.
About 100 officers were assigned to monitor the protest, including a squad trained in controlling civil disturbances, Pacheco said.
There were no problems and no arrests were made, Pacheco said.
30 with Earth First! protest proposed mine in Santa Ritas