President Joe Biden has designated a nearly 1-million-acre national monument near Grand Canyon National Park.
It permanently bans new uranium mining in an area that holds spiritual and cultural significance to more than a dozen tribes in the region.
Biden was joined by tribal members, elected officials and other who for years have pushed for the designation of the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument.
The president spoke of the area’s strong Indigenous heritage as well as the importance of conservation.
"America’s natural wonders are our nation’s heart and soul. That’s not hyperbole, that’s a fact. They unite us, they inspire us. A birthright we pass down from generation to generation," said Biden during his remarks before signing the monument declaration.
The signing ceremony took place near Red Butte, one of the Havasupai Tribe’s most sacred places.
The new federal protections curtail uranium mining on a swath of federal land near the South and North rims as well as an area adjacent to Colorado River on the Arizona Strip.
It preserves recreation as well as existing grazing rights. For decades tribes and conservationists have fought uranium mining in the area and worry it could threaten the water resources of the Grand Canyon as well as sacred sites.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the nation’s first Indigenous cabinet member, also spoke at the event along with Governor Katie Hobbs, Congressman Raul Grijalva and others.
