Republicans in the Arizona Legislature this week adopted a resolution opposing President Joe Biden’s designation of the nearly 1-million-acre Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument.
House and Senate leaders held an emergency meeting in Kingman Monday and say local communities were ignored and cut out of the process.
"As Americans, we believe 'American Made' means 'American Mined.' We need natural resources, like uranium, to achieve energy and mineral independence in the United States. We simply cannot achieve reliable and affordable clean energy without nuclear power," said House leaders in a statement.
Biden’s declaration permanently bans new uranium mining claims on nearly a million acres in Mohave and Coconino Counties to protect water resources and tribal sacred sites.
But Republicans say it’ll harm local economies and make the U.S. dependent on importing critical minerals from Russia and its allies.
According to the White House, less than 2% of the country's known uranium reserves are within the new monument's boundary. Arizona Republicans, however, claim it's much higher.
Biden signed the declaration Tuesday and was joined by tribal leaders and elected officials from throughout the region at a ceremony outside the national park.