Friday, April 24, 2026

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The U.S. Forest Service swapped 2,400 acres of lands last month with Resolution Copper that included an Apache holy site called Oak Flat.

Now, an Arizona organization is challenging that decision.

KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has the latest.

Resolution Copper told KJZZ that courts at every level have consistently ruled in the mining company’s favor, adding “it is time for the meritless litigation to end”.

Becket Fund senior counsel Luke Goodrich disagrees.

“This litigation is far from over. It’s really just getting started.”

That is why his D.C. religious liberty firm filed a 41-page plea on Earth Day on behalf of the nonprofit Apache Stronghold.

They are asking Arizona’s federal district court to essentially undo this congressionally approved land exchange, claiming the U-S has violated federal laws and even an 1852 treaty.

Goodrich says there is even legal precedent to back them up.

“The courts, if they find that transfer is unlawful, can unwind the transfer and require the parties restore the land to its pristine state.”

(Photo: Theo Greenly / KUCB)

Unalaskans got a chance to learn about the island’s only recycling program Tuesday, as part of Earth Day celebrations this week.

Most of what the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska collects gets shipped out, but not the glass.

KUCB’s Sofia Stuart-Rasi has more on how used glass bottles could be put to use on island, over and over again.

“Thank you all for joining us today.”

Shenoy Anderson is standing in a conference room, walking community members through a PowerPoint presentation about recycling called “Bin to beyond”.

“And recycling is a process of gathering and processing materials to create new products.”

Anderson is the environmental director for the tribe.

The tribe started their recycling program in 2024, collecting glass, number one plastic, aluminum, and cardboard.

It is Unalaska’s only recycling program.

Most of the recyclables get shipped out in containers to the Tacoma, Wash. area through a partnership with the barge company Matson, but glass is heavy and takes up too much space.

So rather than see it go to waste, the tribe recycles it in house.

“I got to take off all the plastic and, the metal off the bottles. That takes up most of the time.”

That iss John Gustafson. He is the tribe’s recycling and facilities manager.

He sorts the glass and runs the crusher machine, processing bottles into material used for sandbags and winter road traction for the island. That is cheaper than sending it out of town.

When sorting glass, Gustafson has one hard rule.

Bottles with food residue do not make the cut. Food residue and recycling can contaminate entire batches of material and can cause costly damage to equipment.

“Like spaghetti sauce, Alfredo, and stuff like that. People don’t think to rinse it first.”

As of now, the tribe has about 6,000 pounds of crushed glass stored. That is roughly 2 years’ worth, but Gustafson says there is room to grow in the future.

“It’s just me and can only, you know, handle so much at a time. But eventually we want to upgrade all of our equipment and everything and we’ll spread the news to the whole community. It’ll be even busier.”

Anderson says the tribe hopes to have the new equipment ready within the year and potentially recycle the glass into other materials for art, construction, and landscaping.

She says once it is up and running, they plan to collect recyclable glass beyond an Alaska.

“Our goal is to be a hub.”

For now, community members can drop off recyclables at the Cowlingan Tribe’s office.