Arizona
Future of Arizona’s Oak Flat faces pivotal day in Phoenix courtroom
Apache Stronghold leader’s propane lines severed
Apache Stronghold leader Wendsler Nosie’s propane tank lines were severed. Nosie claims it is related to the controversy surrounding Oak Flat mine.
Three lawsuits aiming to keep the U.S. Forest Service from turning over Oak Flat to a mining company for a massive copper mine go in front of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for arguments Jan. 7.
The British-Australian firm Resolution Copper has long sought the exchange to build a mine that bodes to obliterate a site Apaches and other Native peoples hold sacred. It also is one of Arizona’s few functional wetlands.
Two lawsuits filed by the San Carlos Apache Tribe and a coalition of environmentalists and the Inter Tribal Association of Arizona challenged the land exchange, authorized by a last-minute amendment to a “must-pass” defense bill in December 2014. The arguments in the lawsuits are based on the tribe’s religious beliefs and on environmental concerns, including disputes over water usage and possible damage of one of central Arizona’s key aquifers.
In the third suit, the latest to be filed, a group of Apache women who have spiritual and cultural connections to the site argue that the exchange would violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the First Amendment’s religious rights protections and two environmental laws.
Their lawsuit also brought two new factors into play: a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that affirms parental rights to direct their children’s religious education and references to Justice Neil Gorsuch’s blistering dissent to the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear another case related to the land exchange.
A three-judge panel will hear the cases at the Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. Courthouse in Phoenix.
Religious rights advocates and First Amendment experts have said the ability of Native peoples to exercise their religious rights is at stake.
Oak Flat story: As an Apache girl enters womanhood, lawsuits and tariffs cast shadows
The struggle over Oak Flat nears 30-year mark
For more than two decades, Oak Flat Campground, known to Apaches as Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, “the place where the Emory oak grows,” has been ground zero in a battle over Native religious rights on public lands as well as environmental preservation for a scarce Arizona ecosystem.
The 2,200-acre primitive campground and riparian zone, within the Tonto National Forest about 60 miles east of Phoenix, also lies over one of the nation’s largest remaining bodies of copper ore.
To obtain the copper, Resolution, which is owned by multinational firms Rio Tinto and BHP, plans to use a method known as block cave mining in which tunnels are drilled beneath the ore body, and then collapsed, leaving the ore to be moved to a crushing facility.
Eventually, the ground would subside, leaving behind a crater about 1,000 feet deep and nearly 2 miles across, obliterating Oak Flat.
Resolution Copper, a British-Australian mining firm, sought Congressional approval to exchange other parcels of land it had purchased with the U.S. Forest Service for nearly 10 years when the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and other officials engineered a late-night rider to a must-pass defense bill in December 2014. Then-President Barack Obama signed the bill and ever since, tribes, environmentalists and their allies have fought to stop the exchange.
Resolution has said that the mine would bring much-needed jobs and revenues to the economically challenged Copper Triangle to the tune of about $1 billion a year. The company has provided funding to support recovery from the floods that devastated downtown Globe in October and has supported other community organizations.
In November, Resolution announced it had completed rehabilitation of the historic No. 9 shaft at the Magma minehead, including deepening it to nearly 6,900 feet and connecting it to the No. 10 shaft, which plunges about 6,940 feet below the surface.
Vicky Peacey, president and general manager of Resolution, said the shaft project was a huge milestone, employing homegrown talent from surrounding communities to get the job done.
Despite the ongoing litigation, she said, “We are ready to advance this important copper project, enabling thousands of high-paying jobs, billions in economic development for rural Arizona, and access to a domestic supply of copper essential to American security and modern infrastructure.”
Grassroots group Apache Stronghold, led by former San Carlos Apache Tribal Chairman Wendsler Nosie, filed the first lawsuit to stop the exchange. That litigation was declined twice by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2025, but Apache Stronghold continues to fight the land exchange as the group supports the other three lawsuits.
Debra Krol reports on Indigenous communities at the confluence of climate, culture and commerce in Arizona and the Intermountain West. Reach Krol at debra.krol@azcentral.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @debkrol and on Bluesky at @debkrol.bsky.social.
The Arizona Cardinals requested head coaching interviews with at least 14 candidates — more than nearly any other organization. But among those 14, the group of legitimate options is dwindling fast.
Two Cardinals’ candidates have already been hired elsewhere: Robert Saleh to the Titans and Jeff Hafley to the Dolphins. Three others have not yet been reported to conduct interviews with the Cardinals.
That leaves nine coaches who have both been interviewed by the Cardinals and who remain available.
Then there are the coaches who interviewed with the Cardinals but have since progressed in other teams’ searches — but not with the Cardinals. That group includes Anthony Weaver, Matt Nagy, Jesse Minter and Raheem Morris (as a defensive coordinator). All indications are that those coaches are unlikely to be finalists in Arizona —barring shifting circumstances elsewhere.
As such, the Cardinals have five coaches who currently appear to be frontrunners for the job. Here are those five candidates:
- Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph
- Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak
- Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur
- Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula
- Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady
The first four names on that list all coach teams who are still alive in the playoffs, meaning that they cannot be brought back for an in-person interview until Jan. 26, after the conclusion of conference championship games.
Brady, meanwhile, only interviewed with the Cardinals on Jan. 20 — one day after the Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott in a surprise move. His candidacy has only just begun.
If those coaches are indeed the Cardinals’ preferred choices, it helps to explain why they have not yet conducted a second interview with any candidate.
But for now, the story of this hiring cycle has been the Cardinals’ status as a team on the outside looking in.
They weren’t close on John Harbaugh, with whom they only conducted a preliminary phone call. They were never publicly connected to Kevin Stefanski. Likewise, with Mike McDaniel, who prefers a great offensive coordinator job to a subpar head coach opening. McDermott has not yet been requested by the Cardinals and is said not to be interested in a rebuild.
Then there’s Saleh, who was set for a second interview with the Cardinals on Jan. 20 — only to snub them to accept the Titans job instead. It was a move that summed up the first two weeks of the Cardinals’ offseason.
Now that the chaos of the 2026 college football transfer portal window is for the most part behind them, Arizona head coach Brent Brennan and his staff are shifting their focus towards the high school recruiting trail as they continue to target some of the top prospects in the country.
While the Wildcats’ primary focus remains on the 2027 recruiting cycle, Arizona has also started making progress with some of the top prospects in the 2028 class, including a three-star tight end.
Arizona Making Progress With Three-Star 2028 Tight End
Throughout his recruitment, Arizona has been targeting Torrin Hill, a three-star tight end from Centennial High School in Phoenix. The Wildcats first offered Hill in January 2025 and have been actively pursuing him ever since.
Although Hill is only a sophomore at Centennial, he’s already established himself as one of the nation’s top tight end prospects. Rivals’ industry rankings list him as the No. 169 overall player in the 2028 class, the No. 7 tight end, and the No. 4 prospect from Arizona.
Hill holds five offers, and while other Division I programs, including Syracuse and Memphis, are pursuing him, Rivals’ Adam Goreny recently reported that Arizona is off to a strong start in his recruitment.
According to Gorney, Hill took note of the Wildcats’ impressive 9-4 2025 season and is very interested in his hometown school.
- “Arizona is recruiting the 2028 three-star tight end from Peoria (Ariz.) Centennial and he’s definitely taken notice of the Wildcats’ success this season so that could be big as Hill’s recruitment continues,” Gorney wrote.
Having already established a strong relationship with Hill should put the Wildcats in a position to remain in contention for the three-star tight end throughout his recruitment as more programs get involved.
Not only is Hill one of the top tight end prospects in the 2028 class, but he’s also from Arizona. If Brennan and company could land him, he’d be a massive addition to their class, as bringing in elite in-state talent is crucial to any program’s success.
Arizona hosted Hill for a game-day visit in October, and the Wildcats should look to bring him to campus in Tucson this offseason to strengthen their standing with the young tight end.
While there’s still a long way to go before Hill makes a decision, Gorney’s report suggests the Wildcats have built an early lead in his recruitment and that Arizona is firmly in contention to land one of the top recruits in the 2028 cycle.
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Oregon football is adding to its running back depth with a newcomer to its 2026 high school recruiting class.
Four-star running back Brandon Smith announced his commitment to the Ducks on Monday. Smith previously signed with Arizona in December before reopening his recruitment this past weekend, and now he is set to land in Eugene under running backs coach Ra’Shaad Samples.
Smith — from Central East High School in Fresno — is rated the No. 21 running back in the country and No. 29 overall player in California according to 247Sports’ composite rankings. He also competed in track and field during high school and played safety as well on the football field.
Smith brings plenty of speed to the table, according to 247Sports national recruiting analyst Greg Biggins.
“A true game breaker and home run threat running the football and is among the most explosive backs out West,” Biggins wrote back on June 27. “Elite track metrics and competed in five events last Spring with a personal best 10.67-100-meters, 21.52-200m and anchored the schools 4X400 relay team that finished 2nd at the CA State Track and Field Championship. Speed shows up on the football field and he’s able to accelerate and hit his top end gear after just a few strides.”
With early enrollee quarterback Bryson Beaver now headed to Georgia, Oregon’s 2026 high school recruiting class stands at 21 players with the addition of Smith, now rated the No. 2 overall class in 247Sports’ composite rankings. The Ducks’ other 2026 running back is four-star prospect Tradarian Ball (Texarkana, TX), rated the No. 9 running back in the country and No. 14 player in Texas.
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