By Tony Davis | Arizona Daily Star
The former U.S. interior secretary and Arizona governor who helped create Ironwood Forest National Monument is blasting Asarco for seeking the removal of 11,000 acres from the preserve to mine copper.
The multinational company is simply trying to take advantage of a favorable political climate during the Trump administration, said Bruce Babbitt in an interview this week.
And while Asarco’s formal request was to modify the monument’s boundaries, Babbitt accused the company of framing its request in a way to make a case for its elimination.