7/3/2000 808

BLM PLANS LAND SWAP WITH MINING GIANT ASARCO/GRUPO MEXICO

On 6-29-00, the Center for Biological Diversity, Western Land Exchange Project, and the Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter formally protested the Ray land exchange decision, in which the BLM would give mining giant ASARCO (now a wholly owned subsidiary of Grupo Mexico) 10,000 acres of land in exchange for 7,000 of its private holdings. The public land to be given away borders the spectacular White Canyon Wilderness, contain rare perennial waters and riparian deciduous forest, are a priority reintroduction site for bighorn sheep, and lie within designated critical habitat for the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl. ASARCO would use the land to expand its already enormous Ray copper mine near Hayden, Arizona, resulting in degradation of the beleaguered Gila River and threatening the recovery of river dependent species such as the Southwestern willow flycatcher. The protest was submitted by attorneys Roger Flynn and Jeff Parsons of the Western Mining Action Project (Boulder).