Arizona legislators introduced legislation to establish more than a million acres of federal land as a new Grand Canyon National Monument Tuesday.
The Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument Act is backed by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Sen. Mark Kelly, and Rep. Raúl Grijalva and Rep. Rubén Gallego in the U.S. House.
It comes as the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service hold the first community meeting in Flagstaff this afternoon to discuss the possible establishment of the new monument.
The legislation directs the specifics of the formation and management of the new Grand Canyon National Monument. It also includes the formation of a tribal commission with a representative from each of the 12 federally recognized members of the Grand Canyon Associated Tribes to help oversee the development.