The Havasupai and Hopi tribes joined the Navajo Nation in a filing to intervene in legal challenges to the 2022 designation of a Grand Canyon monument.
The two cases filed in U.S. District Court by the Arizona Legislature and a local rancher claim President Joe Biden exceeded his authority when he designated the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni - Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.
They argue 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. They also allege the monument cuts off access to mining activities, which the plaintiffs say will result in a loss of tax revenue and job opportunities.
The Native American Rights Fund says the tribes are entitled to intervene because their legal interests could be affected. The legal nonprofit also says their concerns likely won’t be adequately addressed by those already involved.
The monument designation preserves nearly a million acres and permanently bans new uranium mining in an area that holds spiritual and cultural significance to more than a dozen tribes in the region.