Tribes and advocates for limiting mining around Grand Canyon National Park are expressing hope that a new national monument will preserve the land for future generations.
President Joe Biden is visiting the area Tuesday and is expected to announce plans for a new national monument to preserve about 1,500 square miles. Some First Nations, along with environmental protection groups, have been advocating for decades for increased protections on the land. Mining companies and others that would benefit from their business have been vehemently opposed to the idea.
Details including the exact borders of the potential monument plan aren’t yet known but advocates for years have called for more than a million acres spanning the North and South Rims to be protected.
Representatives of various northern Arizona tribes have been invited to attend the president's remarks. Among them are Colorado River Indian Tribes Chairwoman Amelia Flores, Navajo President Buu Nygren and Havasupai Tribal Councilwoman Dianna Sue White Dove Uqualla. Uqualla is part of a group of tribal dancers who will perform a blessing.
Tribes in Arizona have been pushing Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to create a new national monument called Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni. “Baaj Nwaavjo” means “where tribes roam,” for the Havasupai people, while “I’tah Kukveni” translates to “our footprints,” for the Hopi tribe.
The Interior Department, reacting to concerns over the risk of contaminating water, enacted a 20-year moratorium on the filing of new mining claims around the national park in 2012. Democratic U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva repeatedly has introduced legislation to create a national monument.
A U.S. Geological Survey in 2021 found most springs and wells in a vast region of northern Arizona known for its high-grade uranium ore meet federal drinking water standards despite decades of uranium mining.
In 2017, Democratic President Barack Obama backed off a full-on monument designation. The idea faced a hostile reception from Arizona's Republican governor and two senators. Then-Gov. Doug Ducey threatened legal action, saying Arizona already has enough national monuments.