April 22, 2026
Tucson—The Tucson City Council on Tuesday approved a motion for Mayor Regina Romero to send a letter to Governor Katie Hobbs asking her to stop the April 29 auction of 160 acres of State Trust Land requested by Copper World for a mine tailings waste dump.
Council member Miranda Schubert said she was “really concerned” about the auction and wanted “to make sure that we were united in expressing our disapproval.”
Romero said she would “be happy to write a letter on behalf of the mayor and council taking this official position against the auction.”
In a separate motion, the council approved preparation of a city resolution formally opposing the Copper World project that would destroy the northern half of the Santa Rita Mountains while threatening a major portion of Tucson’s renewable drinking water supply. The resolution is expected be on the council’s May 5 meeting agenda.
The council’s decision to formally oppose the auction comes two months after the mayor and all six council members signed a full-page advertisement in the Feb. 20 Arizona Capitol Times calling on the governor to withdraw the auction.
Three members of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, four state legislators and two Tohono O’odham Nation leaders also signed the ad, which was sponsored by Save the Scenic Santa Ritas.
Hobbs, through a spokesperson, rejected the withdrawal request within days, according to an article in the Arizona Daily Star.
Separately, Pima County has repeatedly asked the governor to withdraw the auction since the Arizona State Land Department began the process last summer. The governor has rebuffed the county’s requests.
Pima County has passed four resolutions since 2007 opposing open pit copper mining in the Santa Rita Mountains with the most recent approved last October.
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