Grijalva's Monument: Protecting the Grand Canyon

March 28, 2009: Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz), chairs a hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources in Flagstaff. The subject: the 2008 rash of uranium speculation leading to feverish “prospecting” on public lands north and south of the Grand Canyon and its National Park.

Grijalva was then head of the Subcommittee on Parks, Forests, and Public Lands. Representing southern Arizona (former base of Stewart & Morris Udall, also environmentally aware on a national scale). Grijalva immersed himself deeply in issues before the Natural Resources Committee, and so was a legitimate leader who could speak out about the Grand Canyon, located in northern Arizona as it is. (Though the parochialism of "not in your district" seems a dubious objection given a national treasure, the Grand Canyon, a national resource, uranium, and international corporations, the miners.)

The hearing opened with panels of official representatives from the Navajo, Kaibab Paiute, Havasupai, Hualapai, and Hopi, all opposed to the prospecting.

 The Navajo have a large, difficult, and tragic history with uranium, including from the Lost Orphan mine on the South Rim. They had outlawed uranium mining activity in April 2005.

 The other tribal leaders spoke of uranium as a resource bringing too much danger, as well as the endless episodic seduction efforts by outsider miner/speculators—a kind of harassment given that most efforts are just for publicity. The Hualapai although they too have a mining ban, had recently been approached by mining speculators. They  reaffirmed their ban in September 2009.

 The Havasupai had had their own face-off with miners in the early 1990's; now the threat had revived.

 The Southern Paiute were witness to attempts in the upper Kanab area at making uranium pay, attempts that closed down but remain as scarring reminders.

Now, in 2023, after a decade-and-a-half of agitation, continuing lobbying, partial success and reversal, Representative Grijalva is once again leading a united and widely acclaimed effort for national protection in the Grand Canyon region.

Tribal leaders joined state lawmakers Tuesday, April 11 2023, calling on President Joe Biden to join nine previous Presidents acting on Grand Canyon’s behalf. The attempt this time would use the Antiquities Act to set aside more than 1.1 million acres around the Grand Canyon. (The map is on the next page.)

Environmental groups and a dozen tribes in the region say the proposed Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument is needed to protect the area’s water, wildlife, sacred spaces and ancestral homelands from uranium mining and other projects.

In an associated post, I have excerpted some of the local news reports on the tremendously well-attended meeting in Flagstaff on July 18 held by involved agencies. Since then news reports continue to demonstrate that this time may have the needed momentum of an environmentally friendly President.

Efforts to demonstrate the Grand Canyon’s magic continue. All are invited to join. Go on line and ask President Biden to add his name to the illustrious list of Grand Canyon’s protectors.