Some of Arizona’s highest-ranking Republicans have signed onto a lawsuit against the Biden administration over the designation of a new Grand Canyon national monument last year.
Lawmakers have called the Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument a “land grab” since it was designated by President Joe Biden in August.
Their argument contained in the suit filed in U.S. District Court Monday hinges on the claim that the designation violates the Antiquities Act of 1906 — the law designed to protect cultural and natural resources of historic or scientific interest on federal lands.
Republicans like Rep. Gail Griffin say the scope of the monument is just too extreme.
"The Antiquities Act has been misused," Griffin said during a committee meeting Monday. "Originally, it was for historic sites and the smallest size necessary to preserve those sites. Millions of acres frozen in the state of Arizona —as well as the other portions of the West — is unnecessary. And yes, we want to preserve areas that need to be preserved, but millions and millions of acres is just ridiculous."
The lawsuit also claims the existence of the monument cuts off access to mining activities, which the plaintiffs say will result in a loss of tax revenue and job opportunities.
Republican leaders in the state Legislature signed onto the complaint alongside Treasurer Kimberly Yee and Mohave County as well as the communities of Colorado City and Fredonia.
Much of the land that composes the nearly million-acre national monument is sacred to multiple tribal nations. The designation protects the land and blocks new uranium mining in the area.
