Endangered status sought for orchid at Rosemont site

The Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson has filed a petition with U.S. Fish and Wildlife seeking endangered species act protection for an orchid named the Coleman’s coral root, which has been found in small clusters at three sites in Arizona, including McCleary Canyon on the proposed Rosemont Copper mine site in the Santa Rita Mountains. The Center for Biological Diversity is an environmental group that opposes the mine. It is arguing that the orchid in question is a different species of a rare orchid. Jamie Sturgess, vice president with Rosemont’s parent company Augusta Resource, said that the species is not unique and that siting and redesign of mine facilities would “avoid over 90 percent of the individual plants in the Rosemont project area. A pleasent surprise was that this redesign saved several million dollars in facility costs.”...more