The Mount Graham Large Binocular Telescope Project located near Safford, Arizona, is still projected to be completed in four years despite the controversy surrounding the project. The project started in 1989 continues to receive opposition from environmentalist and cultural groups.

The controversy surrounding the project concerns Ohio State, the University of Arizona, and German and Italian investors. Mount Graham is home to an endangered species of red squirrel and is the former site of an Apache tribal reservation. Opposing groups believe the project coordinators were able to have environmental, cultural and religious laws waived to build the telescope.

The United States bought this Apache tribal reservation in the 1880s and turned it into a nature preserve: Mount Graham. According to legend, the mountain is home to the Gaan: Apache mountain spirits. The Gaan are considered most sacred beings for the Apache tribe that lives about three miles from the mountain.

Barry Landeros-Thomas, coordinator of American Indian Student Services said the project is a violation of sovereignty to the Apache people. He said because the religion of the Apache tribe is not mainstream, its ideas and beliefs, such as the Gaan, are dismissed by the majority.

“The project is a dismiss of nature, and a disregard to all indigenous people,” said Landeros-Thomas. He said the best thing OSU could do would be to pull out of the project as gracefully as they could. Landeros-Thomas said Mount Graham is not the best place for the telescope project although it may be a more convenient site.

As part of its permit to build on Mount Graham, the University of Arizona must monitor the squirrel population to make sure the construction is not negatively impacting the squirrels. A May 24, 2000 article of the Eastern Arizona Courier reported that the squirrel population has risen from about 400 in 1997, when construction started, to around 500 in 2000.

Patrick Osmer, chairman of the Department of Astronomy, said Mount Graham is the best available site in the U.S. Osmer said the site was chosen because of its high altitude and because the Southwest has great conditions for observing the sky. Mount Graham is away from city lights making the skies darker and easier to view.

Bob Witzeman, conservation chairman of the Maricota Audubon Society, said that in the investors haste to build the project they did not study the mountain from an astronomy point of view. Witzeman said the mountain is very unusable. In the summer the area has monsoons and in the winter the area has large snow storms. Both make observing difficult. According to Osmer, other observatories in the area run into the same conditions and this is not considered a problem for the project.

“OSU should cut their losses and run,” Witzeman said. He said that OSU has invested a lot of money in the project and is too stubborn to leave. Witzeman added that OSU had a need to have the largest telescope in the world. He said that the offer of additional federal funding was an overwhelming factor that kept them from thinking about ethical considerations.

Osmer said the telescope, having an amazingly sharp view, will allow people to see the faintest objects. The telescopes unique mode will allow it to search for planets around specified stars. Its interferometry design, meaning it has two mirrors, will allow the eight-inch diameter telescope to perform on the same level as that of a telescope with a 23-inch diameter.

When the project is completed the telescope will be the largest in the world. Osmer said the telescope will create tremendous and new opportunities for all those in the field of astronomy and including future OSU students.