Earlier this week, 11 local Tribal Nations hosted a press conference in conjunction with Congressman Raúl Grijalva and Senator Kyrsten Sinema to call upon President Biden to establish our nation’s newest national monument, the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument.
Baaj Nwaavjo means “where tribes roam” in Havasupai and I’tah Kukveni means “our footprints” in Hopi. The proposed national monument would add long-sought and broadly supported protections for 1.1-million-acres of public land adjacent to Grand Canyon National Park and the Kaibab National Forest. This would include a permanent ban on new uranium mining and would protect the watershed along the Colorado River from contamination.
National monuments are a flexible type of designation, with proclamations often written to ensure continued state management of fish and wildlife and to provide for a variety of uses, including habitat improvements. The proposed 1.1-million-acre national monument includes both Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service lands. These agencies would continue to manage this landscape if designated a national monument.
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