Fred Tahse, friend of Santa Ritas, is remembered

Fred Tahse’s breakfast nook offers a spectacular view of the western slope of the Santa Rita mountains.

That’s fitting for a man who moved from California, jumped into his Suzuki Samurai and fell in love with the Southern Arizona wilderness while exploring back roads with friends. Though he never fancied himself an activist, he spent the next few years protecting it.

Tahse, 77, died July 2, and with his death came the silencing of one of the most authoritative voices to speak out against the proposed Rosemont Copper mine on the other side of the mountain range.

His legacy will go on through his writings, video clips and his wife, Carol, who is on the advisory board of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, whose goal is to stop Rosemont in its tracks.

“When we came here, he fell in love with these mountains and this area and this community,” Carol said from her kitchen table, looking at a photo of her husband. “And to see it destroyed was just overwhelming to him.”

But Tahse was an accidental activist. He was, after all, a miner, Carol points out. But with geology degrees from Yale and Caltech, and experience as a geophysicist and in geological exploration, he lifted the veil on the complex world of mining for a grass-roots group that needed help against a corporation with millions.

Dr. Tom Purdon, a member of Friends of Madera Canyon, and who was on the SSSR board with Tahse, said his friend brought “significant detail and credibility” to the organizations.

“He would prefer not to take the podium, but he was more than happy to sit down at the computer and analyze technical aspects,” Purdon said.

“He was clear, he was scientific, he was dedicated and he really had a passion for preserving the Santa Ritas from the bulldozer blades.”

Tahse spent 49 years in California in various geology-related positions, including running his own company. He wasn’t opposed to mining, Carol said, he just didn’t think it needed to be done “where they’re going to be drawing our drinking water — and making the mountain ugly.”

Lainie Levick, an SSSR board member, called Tahse’s death “a huge loss.”

“He really helped us to understand the situation a whole lot better as far as the geology of the Santa Ritas, what type of ore deposit it probably is, and what might happen if they were allowed to mine there,” she said.

Tahse, who moved to Green Valley in 2002, firmly believed Rosemont was going after unproven reserves and that highly touted mining techniques and environmental mitigation measures weren’t as clean as promised. He was widely quoted, and his expertise on Rosemont’s geology and hydrology was well-known.

Tahse, who had longtime heart problems, backed off of his involvement the past two years because of his health, but he was always available to offer insight and direction.

He and Carol, married 49 years, took a trip to Canyon de Chelly in June. She said he knew it would be his last.

“He knew this was going to happen,” she said of the heart attack that took his life. But he wanted to go, to take in the beauty of northern Arizona, she said.

But Fred’s heart was south of Tucson, Carol said, looking out her window at the mountains.

“He loved the Santa Ritas.”

dshearer@gvnews.com | 547-9770

MEMORIAL

Fred Tahse’s family will hold a public memorial at 1 p.m., Aug. 1, at Valley Presbyterian Church, 2800 S. Camino del Sol, Green Valley. They ask that in lieu of flowers gifts be made to Save the Scenic Santa Ritas. Donations can be made online at www.scenicsantaritas.org.

MINING VIDEOS

Tahse explains the geology at the proposed Rosemont Copper mine site and talks about open-pit mining in two YouTube videos. See them at www.youtube.com, search “Fred Tahse.”