A federal judge has rejected a request by the grassroots group Apache Stronghold to keep the U.S. Forest Service from transferring a parcel of land to a copper mining company.

The group made the request in a lawsuit against the Forest Service earlier this year.

U.S. District Judge Steven Logan said Friday that because the group is not a federally recognized tribe with a government-to-government relationship with the United States, it lacks standing.

The Apaches say they consider the land at Oak Flat sacred.

The had asked for at least a temporary delay while the court hears arguments in the case.