Nocopperworld

09/24/2026

Good morning everyone!

I wanted to share this incredible group who has a team of doctors, lawyers, scientists and really great technical people who do the heavy lifting in this fight against

We don't want an irresponsible foreign mine destroying our mountains for resources we will only see if we buy them back.
This group has been fighting them for 30 years and it takes generous donations from our community to help keep that going.

Please think about offering something to help us all keep up the efforts to save this beautiful area that is so much more than copper.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1JS7b1DeMq/

What started as a group of concerned neighbors in 1996 has grown into a strong coalition of staff, board volunteers, scientists, legal experts, and thousands of community members. We need your help more than ever to continue fighting at every level against the destruction of our beloved Santa Rita mountains.

This fall, SSSR is participating in Earth Gives, a “nationwide initiative to inspire generosity and engagement with nonprofits who advance solutions for people and the planet.”

Our goal is to raise $100,000 between today and Earth Gives Day on October 6th. Can you help us reach our goal?

See the link to donate in the comments!

08/27/2026

We’re Not Alone in the Fight

I’m a naturalist at heart.
I love plants and animals.
I never thought I’d write about a poll – a survey. But a recent poll gave me hope for Barrel Canyon.

Before you say “I don’t trust polls,” let me explain.

Yes, I know many polls are not trustworthy. During this election cycle, it seems like the closer an issue is to politics the less you can trust it! But this recent poll was about potential Pima County voters and their feelings about Hudbay’s Copper World Mine.

I wondered if I could trust it, so I looked for information about the company that did the survey. Were they for real?
Save the Scenic Santa Ritas (SSSR) hired Fairband, Maslin, Maulin, Metz & Associates, “FM3 Research” to do the polling. This company bases its reputation on being careful and producing good results. They have hundreds of clients in the fields of education, energy, environment/conservation, healthcare, labor, land use, local government, transportation, and candidate campaigns.

This recent poll consisted of 13 questions answered by 700 people who made up a pretty good cross-section of Pima County voters. The survey was taken June 31-July 9, 2026, mostly by phone.

I was especially interested in the third question, which was asked at the beginning of the survey: [1] “Do you support or oppose [Hudbay’s] proposed mine?” Here’s what the results showed.

55% of Pima County’s potential voters oppose Copper World Mine. 25% support the mine.
And because I care deeply about the wildlife in Barrel Canyon I was interested in the response to Question 6-H, asked of people who said they opposed the mine: “Do you agree with Arizona Game and Fish Department’s statement that Copper World will render the northern portion of the Santa Rita Mountains virtually worthless as wildlife habitat?”
79% of those who oppose the mine agreed with this strongly-worded statement about habitat destruction.

As you know, if you’ve read “Barrel Canyon Bill”” over the last few months, I totally agree with that statement by the Arizona Game and Fish Department. I encourage you to look at results of the poll.

Go to Save the Scenic Santa Ritas’ website > News > Press Release: Poll July 20, 2026.

Please support my good friends at NoCopperWorld.

07/26/2026

The endangered Gila Topminnow in Cienega Creek, survives in water from Barrel Canyon’s aquifer.

The “5 C’s” built Arizona, but now there’s a “W”

By Barrel Canyon Bill

Since the 1950s, Arizona’s schoolkids have learned that Arizona owes a lot to Citrus, Copper, Cattle, Cotton and Climate. Times are changing, however.
Today Citrus, Cotton, and Cattle, combined, make up less than 1% of the state’s economy. Climate (during the winter months) still brings in dollars, but not so much in the summer anymore. Copper reigns supreme, but copper mining may be on a collision course with water conservation. Dr. Stanley Hart, Earth Sciences Researcher with the University of Arizona, put it this way: “You can have copper or you can have water, but you can’t have both.”

Hudbay Minerals of Toronto, Canada, wants us to believe that we can have both.

In its drive to establish huge new mines in the Santa Rita Mountains and 6 miles southwest of Casa Grande, Hudbay plans to suck up water at the rate of approximately 2 billion gallons per year. Many Arizonans mistakenly believe Hudbay promises that they will somehow replace this water and that Arizona’s copper can still be taken without consequences.

But the truth is, copper mining now comes with a terrible price, which is the loss of our dwindling supplies of water. Statistics about the state’s water – especially “ephemeral water” that filters down into underground aquifers – seem to change monthly, and the changes are not good. Arizona’s ADEQ (Department of Environmental Quality) is living in the past – approving permits based on laws written more than 150 years ago and running on funds doled out by the mining companies or by our pro-mining national government.
What’s to be done? Contact “No Copper World” or “Save the Scenic Santa Ritas” about organizing community activities, volunteering with events, donating, and writing letters to decision-makers. In particular, ask Gov. Hobbs to use her powers to void the April 29, 2026, auction of 160 acres desperately needed by Hudbay Minerals.

Sources: Engel, Kirsten, Florida State University College of Law lecture. Spring, 2025. Camryn Sanchez, KJZZ Radio, “The 5 C’s: They don’t drive Arizona’s economy today, but mark when the state came into its own,” Feb. 18, 2026. Dr. Stan Hart, personal correspondence, March 11, 2026.

07/13/2026

Lies vs. Truth

Hudbay is lying to us. The company has a history of lying – and worse. On your search engine look up . Despite the company’s putting up dozens of “damage control” websites, you can still read about its deadly fiasco in Guatemala.

And after that, look up . (Flin Flon was the name of one of its mines about 450 miles north of Winnipeg.) No matter how Hudbay tries to rewrite history, it has a very bad human rights record.
Hudbay’s slogan on the billboard along I-10 is laughable. Hudbay Minerals is a Canadian corporation, and like all corporations it exists to make profits. Employees are a means of making profits. As far as caring about neighbors, Hudbay is driving down home values and necessitating air pollution monitoring in Corona de Tucson and parts of Vail. As far as “the Desert we call home” – that’s a meaningless statement from a corporate entity based in Tononto, Ontario, Canada, that is destroying the northern Santa Rita Mountains.
And now another lie. It’s about a Class 1 Permit from the state vs. a Class 2 Permit. Hudbay says everyone should be glad it is getting a Class 2 Permit from the state because a Class 2 Permit protects everyone better than a Class 1 Permit. The truth is this: Hudbay has wanted a Class 2 Permit from the state because Class 2 requirements are easier, cheaper to fulfill and without Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) oversight. The real truth is that Class 1 would be better for all of us because it is more stringent.

03/10/2026

Barrel Canyon’s gray squirrel, Sciurus Arizonensis, is often described as a friendly little animal, or at least “not afraid of humans or dogs.” It doesn’t like cats, however, and when it sees a skunk or a snake on the prowl it will sit high on a branch and make little barking noises to warn other animals.
Barrel Canyon’s gray squirrels are attracted to the healthy old Arizona Walnut trees rising above the underground aquifer that runs through the heart of Rosemont Valley. The branches of the trees offer protection and places where they can build nests. The squirrels eat walnuts, as well as acorns , nuts, seeds, and berries. The animals don’t mate unless they are eating high-energy foods such as flowering plants. Females usually bear young during years when food is plentiful.

The squirrels are not doing as well as we might think. In Mexico they are becoming rare, due to logging and the clearing of forests for agricultural fields. In Arizona the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calls them a “Category 2” species, which means they could be on the way toward becoming officially “threatened” or “endangered.” Their willingness to live urban areas may help keep their numbers stable. If Hudbay’s plans to dig the huge open pit mine are approved, tailings from the mine will be dumped into places where our Arizona gray squirrels make their home.
Munoz, P. 1999. “Sciurus arizonensis” Animal Diversity Web. Accessed March 3, 2026.

02/25/2026

Flon Flim Flam (Hudbay Hoax) watch on YouTube

02/24/2026

Minerals propaganda processed outside US elected officials spreading propaganda

02/24/2026

and Water Guzzling Industry Destruction Hobbs Propaganda

02/17/2026

Come find out about updates.
Come with your questions.
Come meet with us and figure out how you can help protect our community.

02/03/2026

Barrel Canyon’s Exuberant Little Cacti

On the hillsides above Barrel Canyon, in the heart of Rosemont Valley, cheerful little cacti that display extraordinary coloration. On their “stems” are rings of red, magenta, white, pink and green. The “topknots” where lacy, interlocking white spines converge are often a rosy red ar**le an inch or two in diameter. And there’s more to the coloration: When they produce blooms in the spring, the flowers are bright pink with white throats. Most of the year, however, you have to look carefully to find them because they are “solitary,” only 12 inches tall (or less), and they like to hide in hillsides full of high grass.

They go by the name Arizona Rainbow Cactus or Rainbow Hedgehog Cactus, Echinocereus rigidissimus rigidissimus. During the big Barrel Canyon Bioblitz last March, many observers snapped photos of them and uploaded the photos to iNaturalist. These cacti are found in Arizona and New Mexico. Although the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the species as “Least Concern,” there are reports that they are becoming less common in Arizona. If Hudbay’s proposed Copper World Mine proceeds as planned, the little Rainbow Cacti will be wiped out in Barrel Canyon and much of Rosemont Valley, buried under tons of waste rock and tailings.