Photographer Josh Schachter first photographed the Santa Rita Mountains and Sonoita 15 years ago, documenting the gorgeous views so prized by locals and tourists.
Two years ago, knowing that that landscape was now “in jeopardy” from the proposed Rosemont copper mine, Schachter set about trying to save it through art. He and fellow photog Brian Forbes Powell “went out to the land where the mine would be, and quickly realized it was too big for the two of us.”
Partnering with the Sonoran Institute and the Save the Scenic Santa Ritas coalition, they built a website and solicited photos that would document the region’s natural beauties, showing what we have now, and what we lose if the mine gets blasted into the pristine landscape.
“We got hundreds and hundreds of photos,” Schachter said.
The pair selected 49 photos by 30 photographers for the exhibition Lens on the Land: Rosemont, What’s at Stake. Divided into groups by theme, the photos celebrate “viewsheds” of the land, biodiversity, cultural heritage, local industry, tourism and so on.
The exhibition’s prodigious text was based on studies by Pima County, which opposes the mine, and a U.S. Forest Service environmental impact statement. (Powell is a biologist for the county, but he worked on Lens on the Land as a private citizen, Schachter said.)
The text is full of horrifying numbers: The mine would have an impact on more than 4,700 acres of public and private land, “permanently disturb(ing) 3,700 acres of public land.” If the pit mine and its tailings and waste piles were plopped on top of downtown Tucson, they would extend roughly from Glenn Street on the north to 22nd street on the south, and from Tucson Boulevard on the east to Interstate 10 on the west. And if downtown were dropped into the mine’s vast open pit, it would be like a tiny toy city at the bottom of a giant’s very deep well. One South Church (formerly the UniSource Energy Tower) at 330 feet the city’s tallest skyscraper, would be dwarfed by that well’s tallest side, at 2,900 feet.
Much has been written about the mine, but the exhibition allows pictures to tell the story, and to show the heartbreaking beauty of an endangered place.
This article appears in Feb 6-12, 2014.
The Rosemont Copper project is not unique. Everything we do impacts the environment.
May I inquire about what was lost when they built the house you live in?
The only link I can find is
http://lensontheland.com
and it does not appear to be the entire exhibit. Need better information about the exhibit, is it online, etc.
When they built my house, it did not affect national forest, water supply, air quality…..
Want to bet? They cleared the land where your house sits. Where did the materials your home is made from come from? A good portion of these materials were most likely mined from somewhere. What about the electric power to run the things in your home? I assume your water supply comes from the same place as everyone else’s do. If you use water, you impact the water supply. If you drive a car, you impact the quality our air. Minerals derived from mining are even used to plant, cultivate, fertilize and harvest the food you consume.
All of these activities impacts the environment. You are really ignoring reality if you believe otherwise.
I’m sorry – I don’t seen any trees in your picture of the site, much more 300,000 trees…..
Just because one uses technology and lives in the modern world does not mean we have to accept a mine at all possible locations where they are proposed. If preventing the Rosemont Mine and Saving the Santa Ritas means I have to spend more money on devices, etc., that use copper then so be it. This mine isn’t worth it.
No one is suggesting that we mine in all possible places where they are proposed. There are hundreds of millions of acres of public lands in America that have already be placed off limits to mining activity.
However, Rosemont is in a historical mining district where copper has been mined since the 1880s. If the mining industry can not develop a new mine here, where can they develop the mines that will supply America’s future demand for minerals?
Resolution near Superior? Curis’ project near Florence? Pebble project in Alaska? Eagle project in Michigan? There are groups just like those here in Tucson, who are opposing these mining projects. The fact of the matter is just about everywhere a mining company decides to develop a project, there are groups like Save the Scenic Santa Ritas that oppose this development. So I ask again. Where do get the minerals to meet the needs of our society?
You can only mine in an area where the mineral resource is present in sufficient quantities and grade to make the project profitable to do so. Rosemont is one of those places.
Rosemont is not one of those places David. That is why Rosemont is a historical mining district, not an active district. The local economy will be better served by the tourism the Santa Ritas attract than the short lived mine. In answer to your question where do we get the minerals to meet the needs of our society – we stop having a disposable society and recylcle that which has already been mined.
Casey – not every tree is a redwood or sequoia – mesquite and juniper are just as valuable and more so in the ecosystem of the Santa Ritas.
I am a Certified Forester that grew up in Sierra Vista, and visited the Santa Ritas for their uniqueness, including viewing rocks and minerals – minerals that should stay were they are, not be sorted out of the earth making a huge hole and slag piles that will irrevocably change the Santa Ritas all for the greed of a foreign company.
Just because copper has not been mined in the area since 1960s, does not necessarily imply it is not an active mining district. The Rosemont-Helvetia mining district has been actively explored for its mineral potential since the discovery of the Rosemont Copper deposit in 1961. Numerous mining companies (Banner, Anaconda, Anamax, Asarco and Augusta Resource) have invested alot time and money evaluating this area.
While recycling is an important source for minerals, it will never eliminate the need to develop new mines to supply the minerals we consume everyday.
Diversified economies weather economic downturns better than those based on a single industry. Yes tourism is important to southeastern Arizona’s economy, but so are the extractive and manufacturing industries. Solely basing Tucson’s economic future on tourism is economic suicide.
Tourism and mining go hand and hand. The best case for this is one of the largest economic events held in Tucson every year, the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. It is not a coincidence that the largest show of this type in the world is held in Tucson.
The first Tucson Gem and Mineral Show was held at the Helen Keeling Elementary School in 1955. The 1950s was also the time, when much of the copper exploration began in southeastern Arizona, which resulted in many discoveries in this region, including Rosemont in 1961. The area’s mining history has definitely played and will continue to play a significant role in the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show’s success. Other tourism attractions in the area include Bisbee, Tombstone and Jerome, all historical mining districts. There are tours given at the area’s active mines (Morenci and Asarco’s Mineral Discovery Center).
20 years of work for a big ugly hole in the ground doesnt make sense to me. The Resolution Mine might make sense given the proximity to nearby open pits further north even though I believe itll use the cave block method. But just because the Rosemont site is in an active mining district doesnt make it the best decision for the city or Southern AZ. I think it would be short sighted to approve the mine for the quick and ultimately temporary boost in jobs when the long term impacts are weighed. The payback period is just too short.
Twenty years is a temporary job? How many jobs do you know of that will last twenty years? There are alot of Arizonans, who love to have one of the several thousand direct or indirect jobs that will result from this project.
Sorry, never thought Tucson was solely a tourism economy. I’m talking about the Santa Ritas, Madera Canyon, Sonoita, and the Coronado National Forest which is mandated for multiple use – if the Rosemont Mine goes ahead, there will only be one use as no cow can graze and no person would want to hike it.
If the Rosemont Copper deposit was found in 1961, why hasn’t it been extracted yet ? My guess would be it was not economically or environmentally viable, still isn’t. And again greed is being put before our environment that can’t be fixed when chemicals are introduced that degrade our water. Water. Where are you going to truck that in from? 2000 jobs? Not all those jobs will exist and even fewer will be for 20 years. Numbers exaggerated, like the jobs the Keystone XL Pipeline is suppose to bring to Nebraska – bogus exaggeration, corporate and political rhetoric. Both proposed projects by foreign companies for their economic gain, both won’t bring much beyond potential for environmental catastrophe for local citizens.
There are no jobs on a dead planet….
There is a reason most residents in the Sonoita/Patagonia area are against this mine. You will find “Save the Santa Rita’s” bumper stickers on members of the Tree of Life from Patagonia to ranchers in Sonoita. Opposition to this mine crosses the entire political spectrum. I even remember the 2010 Congressional Libertarian Candidate David Stokes being against the mine.
There are many reasons to be against this mine. Environmentally, it is going to use more water per month than Tucson uses all year. Which water in this desert is a limited resource. This will reduce the water supply for cattle ranches, farms, wineries, and orchards. Which we need copper, but we need food a lot more. Economically, the jobs created will be only a few hundred and there is no guarantee Rosemont will hire locally. There is the public safety issue of having hundreds of trucks driving up and down St. Route 83. Which is already a dangerous road to travel. This will also cause the road to deteriorate faster than normal. Rosemont does not have to pay any more taxes to compensate for this extra cost.
On a patriotic standpoint, Rosemont Copper is owned by a Canadian mining company where their biggest client for copper are Chinese companies. So, we are basically going to allow a foreign company to sell OUR resources to a Communist country. If we are going to destroy a fragile ecosystem, drain our already limited water supply, damage the economies of Patagonia/Sonoita, and leave a huge open pit filled with toxic water; can we at least keep the resource in this country?
I really can not see any logical argument for this mine. You do not need to be a left leaning tree hugger to see this mine will be a net loss to our community.