Sky Island Traverse

[sirena]

The Grand Enchantment Trail website has something very interesting on the homepage- Coming Spring 2010- Introducing a new hiking route from the pioneers of the Grand Enchantment Trail- the Sky Island Traverse- 500 miles across 10 of Arizona's most iconic sky islands. :GB: http://simblissity.net/get/

[JimmyLyding]

Great video Sirena. I have some friends who own a ranch at the base of the Mustang Mountains, and they're hopping-mad about the proposed Rosemont Mine. The good thing is that they're both U of A alumni, and VERY-well-connected in terms of politics and money. The whole thing makes me sick.

[joebartels]

In response to sirena:
Nice video and nice to meet you
So calm too, dang I'm just not inspiring people

I guess the mine is bad. I'm not really a dig hearty activist. Heck I live in a huge city
Guess somebody was saying the grasslands are bad too but man that's beautiful.

[Jeffshadows]

My biggest objection to the mine has little to do with foreign companies or economics, etc. It has to do with what that mine WILL do to the surrounding ecosystem.

This issue, like so many others, is hard to discuss with a great many in Tucson because a great many in Tucson lack a basic science education. They can't understand how pumping groundwater will affect a spring thousands of feet up and miles away. To them, physics and hydrology are part of the vast liberal conspiracy.

[joebartels]

Okay but wouldn't you think Phoenix and Tucson are considerably bigger issues than a mine. I'm not rooting for it by any means. However it seems like being pissed about a firecracker while standing on a nuclear bomb.

[Jeffshadows]

In many ways that is true, yes. The issue here will be proximity; they will be draining the aquifer that partially supplies the Ritas, directly. This will result in a more prominent impact on the neighboring ecosystem in a much smaller scale of time than would the more distant drain which gives a some time for equilibrium to reestablish. A slow drain is one thing, the ecosystem will adapt - to a point. The sudden impact is the one that causes wide-spread harm.

[JimmyLyding]

We can hopefully stop that mine, but we can't make Phoenix and Tucson go away

[joebartels]

Is there a clear and precise webpage that lays out the issues on that specific ecosystem or is this all about the aquifer?

[JimmyLyding]

It's about much more than the aquifer. Habitat destruction, the widening of SR 83 that will allow huge trucks & more automobile-borne pollution, the iconic oak tree along SR 83 that will have to go, mine pollution draining into Tucson's watershed, landform modification, and lights @ the mine shining all night to the detriment of local wildlife and Tucson's dark-sky initiative. I'm sure there are other issues, but those come to mind off the top of my head.

[Jeffshadows]

It's about much more than the aquifer. Habitat destruction, the widening of SR 83 that will allow huge trucks & more automobile-borne pollution, the iconic oak tree along SR 83 that will have to go, mine pollution draining into Tucson's watershed, landform modification, and lights @ the mine shining all night to the detriment of local wildlife and Tucson's dark-sky initiative. I'm sure there are other issues, but those come to mind off the top of my head.

That's a good treatise. I believe that the Sky Island Alliance and Save the Scenic Santa Ritas websites both have 'comprehensive' memos on the subject, too...

[writelots]

Is there a clear and precise webpage that lays out the issues on that specific ecosystem or is this all about the aquifer?

http://www.scenicsantaritas.org/ - there's all kinds of stuff here about the ecosystem, the aquifer and the potential impacts on tourism and other local business. Here's my rub... I spent a good part of fall 2007 working on a redevelopment plan for the San Manuel mine northeast of Tucson. That mine complex reportedly resided on one of the largest known copper deposit in North America, it was estimated that after 40 years of intensive mining operations, and one of the largest underground copper mines in the world, less than 15% of the ore body had been removed. The strip mining they had begun in order to reach lower grade ore more cheaply was only just starting to make it's impact. The refining plant in San Manuel was state of the art when it was closed in 2003, and produced fully 2/3rds of the copper used in the US each year. All of this was shut down, dismantled and ceased because copper prices began falling in the late 90's. They spend MILLIONS of dollars on "mitigation" and capping of the open pit and the tailings piles. I don't have my photos anymore (darned company laid me off!), but I can tell you there was NOTHING even remotely natural about it. And they were using a "eco-friendly" approach. The mine, at the height of it's operation, had the rights to pump many times more water than were used by all of the municipalities in the area combined. True, city water use is high, but mining water use is insane (and, though we can't get rid of the cities, we can do a lot to regulate their water use - we can't with mining companies).

So - lets say we build monster copper mine in the 'Ritas. We destroy the priceless riparian ecosystem in Davidson canyon, Cienega Creek and the upper Pantano Wash. We reduce the tourism value and cause many small businesses to fail. We create 400 permanent jobs (is it me, or does that not seem like many?) and we fill a Canadian company's pockets with American money. We allow a private company to permanently destroy the value of thousands of acres of NFS lands without any significant financial compensation to taxpayers. They dig, they dump and they pump. Some people get rich, some people have a good job, and true to human nature, we turn a blind eye in the name of progress.

Then, the price of copper crashes again. The holders of the Rosemont Mine Co, which has financed 50-60% of it's capital to create the mine on future production, realize they're going to loose money and they sell. New company realizes better economic benefit to closing the operation. Bye bye jobs, bye bye tax moneys, bye bye financial benefits and cheap copper. But wait, we can't just get rid of millions of tons of waste and a 1 mile long hole in the earth. Those, my friends, those we get to keep!

It's just too big a risk with too little payoff for the people who live in the area and the American taxpayers as a whole. Go dig up San Manuel again. There's still plenty there - and now that real estate's gone south, they're looking for a buyer!

Oops - that turned into a rant. Sorry.

[joebartels]

Hopefully this Rosemont Mine Company will be stopped before they're allowed to produce non-lined pits [-X

[Jeffshadows]

Wendy said it better than I could have 1,000x over.

[JimmyLyding]

Bravo Wendy. Do not for one second forget that these mining companies don't give a damn about you, I, or your neighbor's dog.

[fricknaley]

Oops - that turned into a rant. Sorry.

don't be. you're spot on.

[flagscott]

It looks like the SkIT has its first thru-hiker: http://freedirtmonger.blogspot.com/2016 ... verse.html

Nice interview with the hiker here (starts about 5-10 minutes in and runs for an hour): http://thetrailshow.com/55skit/

I'm sure the terrain and wildlife are awesome, but the logistics sound gnarly. Suffice to say, this one went from on my "maybe someday" list to "eh, probably not."