The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected an attempt by Arizona Republicans to nullify a nearly million-acre national monument near the Grand Canyon.
The panel of judges wrote that the arguments brought by the Arizona Legislature and Treasurer Kimberly Yee along with the governments of Mohave County, Colorado City and the Town of Fredonia were too speculative. As a result, none of the plaintiffs had standing in the case.
The opinion released Wednesday affirmed a district court’s previous dismissal of all counts.
“Plaintiffs allege that the Proclamation injures them in numerous ways, but the district court dismissed Plaintiffs’ Complaint, concluding that none of them had standing … we affirm,” wrote the 9th Circuit.
The plaintiffs claimed President Joe Biden’s 2023 designation of the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument would cause lost tax revenue, reduce land value and create higher energy prices.
“Today's ruling is a victory for the people of Arizona and for the Indigenous communities whose ancestral homelands are protected by this monument,” said Attorney General Mayes. “The court rejected every argument Senate President Warren Petersen, Speaker of the House Steve Montenegro and Treasurer Kimberly Yee put forward. I am proud to have stood up to defend these sacred and important lands.”
Mayes and Gov. Katie Hobbs, both Democrats, had intervened in the case to defend Biden’s monument designation.
The 917,000-acre area, which includes federal lands both north and south of the Grand Canyon, is culturally significant to numerous northern Arizona tribes including the Navajo, Hopi and Havasupai.
They worry about a possible surge in uranium mining claims if the federal protections are lifted and possible negative impacts to the region's groundwater.
The mining industry insists that modern uranium mining methods are safe for public health and the environment.
Despite the court ruling, conservationists say the monument is still under threat. Republican Rep. Paul Gosar has introduced bills in the U.S. House to abolish it. And a leaked U.S. Department of the Interior memo last year revealed that the Trump administration was considering shrinking or eliminating the monument all together.
