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SALT LAKE CITY — It didn't take long for Utah leaders to express their displeasure over President Joe Biden's announcement of a new national monument within the Grand Canyon.
Biden announced the designation of the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni National Monument on Tuesday during a tour of the Western U.S. that will include Utah on Thursday. It is the fifth establishment of such a monument under the Biden administration and encompasses nearly 1 million acres of public land surrounding Grand Canyon National Park.
Native American Tribes and environmentalists have pushed for decades to safeguard areas surrounding the Grand Canyon National Park. Meanwhile, conservatives have advocated for mining interests in the area.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Sens. Mitt Romney and Mike Lee are among Republicans taking issue with the new monument, calling it a "disturbing trend," "disappointing" and "a mistake."
Their opposition is reminiscent of a similar battle around the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. In all three monuments' cases, Utah Republicans have argued that Biden has overstepped his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to create such monuments.
"This monument designation is frustrating news, especially for residents of Utah along the Arizona strip. As I've said many times before, massive, landscape-scale monuments like this are a mistake," Cox said in a statement. "These designations increase visitation without providing any additional resources for law enforcement and infrastructure to protect sensitive areas. ... I still believe the only right way to create large new land designations is through Congress in coordination with local leaders and residents, a process that brings all voices to the table and offers the necessary funding."
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Biden makes Grand Canyon monument designation, citing Arizona tribal heritage, climate concerns
President Joe Biden has signed a national monument designation for the greater Grand Canyon, declaring it good "not only for Arizona but for the planet."Cox, Lee and Romney all raised concerns about the monument designation would impact access to mine minerals like uranium.
"The Arizona Strip is one of the most productive uranium mining districts in the country," Romney said in a statement. "By eliminating this important source of uranium, President Biden has increased both our dependence on Russia and China and our ultimate carbon footprint, while decreasing our energy efficiency. It is disappointing that with this proclamation, the president has once again ignored the concerns of those who live closest to the land."
Lee said the monument destination was "nothing short of a blatant misuse of the Antiquities Act" and that it would force the U.S. to rely on foreign powers like Russia for its energy needs.
"Not only will this decision negatively impact our local grazers, miners, and other constituents whose livelihoods are deeply intertwined with this region, but it will tie up one of our few domestic sources of uranium, a critical component in carbon-free nuclear energy production," Lee tweeted. "President Biden's decision embodies a disturbing trend toward top-down management that Democrat presidential administrations have consistently showcased. This approach not only overlooks the value of the local input but also disrupts the delicate balance between conservation and practical realities."
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) August 8, 2023
Utah Republicans' outcry stood in stark contrast to Native American tribes, including a number of Utah tribes, and Arizona officials who have come out in support of the monument. The name Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni itself comes from words from two Indigenous languages. "Baaj Nwaavjo" means "where tribes roam," in the Havasupai language, while "I'tah Kukveni" translates to "our footprints," in the Hopi language.
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren, who attended Biden's announcement, applauded the new monument.
"The Grand Canyon is home to life of all kinds and is an ecosystem we must protect," Nygren tweeted. "We know from firsthand experience the damage that can be caused by uranium mining and processing that contaminates our water and poisons our animals and our children."
The Grand Canyon is home to life of all kinds and is an ecosystem we must protect. We know from firsthand experience the damage that can be caused by uranium mining and processing that contaminates our water and poisons our animals and our children. pic.twitter.com/uetofuZexq
— Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren (@BuuVanNygren) August 8, 2023
Native American communities have long gotten the short end of the stick when it comes uranium mining. Over 30 million tons of uranium were extracted from the Navajo Nation and adjacent lands alone during the Cold War — an era that left over 500 abandoned mines across the reservation.
"Miners and their families were kept in the dark about the heinous dangers of radiation exposure, so they went about their daily activities like any other community. Workers drank the mine's cool spring water, while their wives washed their yellowed work clothes. Families built homes with local rocks and sediment and let their children play for hours on uranium byproducts, including mine debris piles," Nygren said in a recent op-ed for Time magazine. "Growing up in a community that has an abandoned uranium mine in Red Mesa, Arizona, I witnessed firsthand the heartbreaking and enduring consequences of uranium mining on my people."
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American cabinet secretary, said the new monument designation is part of a "new era" in which collaboration and stewardship with tribes are valued, according to the Associated Press.
"It will help ensure that Indigenous people can continue to use these areas for religious ceremonies, hunting and gathering of plants, medicines and other materials, including some found nowhere else on Earth," Haaland said. "It will protect objects of historic and scientific importance for the benefit of tribes, the public and for future generations."
The new monument includes a number of natural features ranging from plateaus to creeks as well as 3,000 known cultural and historic sites, 12 of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
"The unique interplay of geology and hydrology support some of the most biodiverse habitats in the region ranging from sagebrush to savanna, providing refuge for iconic wildlife including bighorn sheep, mule deer, bison, peregrine falcons, bald eagles, owls and songbirds," the Biden administration said in a statement. "Today's designation preserves this vital landscape for outdoor recreation, including camping, hiking, biking and other recreational activities, consistent with applicable law. Hunting and fishing will continue to be allowed throughout the monument, including in the Kanab Creek area."
Existing mining claims will not be affected by this designation, senior Biden administration officials told the Associated Press. Since the monument site encompasses around 1.3% of the nation's known and understood uranium reserves, officials say significant resources in other parts of the country will remain accessible.
A U.S. Geological Survey in 2021 found most springs and wells in a vast region of northern Arizona known for its high-grade uranium ore meet federal drinking water standards despite decades of uranium mining.
No uranium mines are operating in Arizona, although the Pinyon Plain Mine just south of Grand Canyon National Park has been under development for years. Other claims are grandfathered in. The federal government has said nearly a dozen mines within the area that has been withdrawn from new mining claims could still potentially open, even with the monument designation, because their claims were established before 2012, the Associated Press reported.
