The state of Minas Gerais in Brazil is known for its rich mineral deposits, dramatic natural beauty and biodiversity, and strong agricultural community of family subsistence farmers that produce products such as coffee, sugarcane, and cattle for beef. For my research project I plan to examine how these three identities of the state come into conflict with each other when mining corporations, reforestation NGOs and small-scale family agriculture communities all make claims for the same plot of land. In the Brigadeiro Mountain Range, resting within the Atlantic Forest, the community members of the small town Rosario da Limeira found themselves contending with this conflict as a Brazilian corporation called Companhia Brasileiro de Aluminio (CBA). The local farmers have united with a reforestation NGO called Iracambi to resist the incursion of the mining operations within the region, along with a national movement called MAM (Movimento Pela Soberania Popular Na Mineração). While a major part of my interest in the research is how these groups are able to combine forces to prevent the mining of bauxite in the region, I am also interested in how the interests of the farmers may come to be in conflict with the reforestation NGO. Thus, my study draws from a theoretical framework of political ecology to help explain this particular situation of a conflict of land use.