Native American tribal members fighting plans for an enormous copper mine on land they consider sacred say they are increasingly worried U.S. officials will move forward on the project even as they await a federal appellate court ruling in the case. A U.S. government attorney said last month during a hearing of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that a final environmental review will pave the way for the mine's construction at Oak Flat, Arizona, could be published this spring. San Carlos Apache Tribe Chairman Terry Rambler says that U.S. Forest Service officials delivered the same message during a visit last week.
