Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

Apache/Environmental plea for injunction against proposed University of Arizona Mount Graham powerline to be heard in Tucson, May 15, 2001.

Tucson, AZ - Arguments over whether a 23-mile long, entrenched 25,000-volt electric power transmission line is being installed illegally on Mt. Graham for the University of Arizona's observatory in the Coronado National Forest in Graham County, Arizona, will be presented in federal court in Tucson, on Tuesday, May 15th at 10:00 a.m.

A lawsuit filed against the U.S. Forest Service last June by the Mount Graham Coalition, the Apache Survival Coalition, and Apaches for Cultural Preservation, points out that the decision to proceed with the proposed 25,000 volt power line is in violation of the Arizona Idaho Conservation Act (AICA) passed by Congress in 1988. Apache and environmental plaintiffs point out that the powerline was not an authorized part of the 3-telescope, first phase of the project. They pointed out that it was only allowable in the second phase, 4-telescope part of the project which was subject to U.S. environmental, cultural and religious protection laws.

Those laws include the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the federal government's trust responsibility to Native Americans, the Endangered Species Act, and Presidential Executive Order 13007 on Indian Sacred Sites. That executive order requires federal land management agencies to "protect the physical integrity" of Indian Sacred Sites.

On August 2, 1999, Coronado National Forest Supervisor John McGee wrote to the President's Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, noting that an assessment of Native American traditional uses on Mt. Graham, "has reinforced the importance of Mt. Graham as a sacred site to Western Apaches." Three weeks later, McGee permitted the UA to construct an entrenched, 23-mile long powerline in a deep trench which leaves a broad, highly visible scar of permanent devegetation up the side of the mountain, and continues across and along the top of the mountain to the summit. The Apaches and the Mt. Graham Coalition filed suit after the Forest Service had rejected their appeal.

In January of this year, the University of Arizona joined the lawsuit as defendants. The University began construction of the power line in April after refusing to permit the court to rule on the case before the University would begin digging the miles of trenches for the power line. The Apaches and conservationists immediately filed for an injunction.

The Mt. Graham observatory Special Use Permit and Management Plan, which governs the construction, operation and maintenance of the site, was issued April 7, 1989. It states that the power line "…will require additional NEPA documentation…."

Mt. Graham is home to many unique species found nowhere else on earth. The mountain is also home to several endangered, threatened and sensitive species including the Mt. Graham Red Squirrel, Apache Trout, Mexican Spotted Owl, and Northern Goshawk.

The President's Council on Historic Preservation had determined in 1996 that the Mt. Graham observatory project was not exempt from the protections of the National Historic Preservation Act. Mt. Graham has since been determined to be eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places as a Western Apache traditional cultural property. In a fitting coincidence, the week of May 13 - 19 is National Historic Preservation Week.