Grand Canyon Issues
What Can You Do?
Call your congressional representatives and ask them to support the Grand Canyon Watersheds Protection Act.
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When asked to comment on the legislation, Grand Canyon Superintendent Steve Martin said: “There should be some places that you just do not mine. Uranium is a special concern because it is both a toxic heavy metal and a source of radiation. I worry about uranium escaping into the local water, and about its effect on fish in the Colorado River at the bottom of the gorge, and on the bald eagles, California condors and bighorn sheep that depend on the Canyon’s seeps and springs. More than a third of the canyon’s species would be affected if water quality suffered.”
We are leading an extremely effective advocacy strategy to prevent new uranium development on public lands adjacent to Grand Canyon.
The Trust’s work has been featured in broadcast and print stories and editorials as we have supported legislation, initiated legal actions, and organized opposition to prevent thousands of new mining clams from threatening ground and surface waters, wildlife habitat, and visitors’ use and enjoyment of the Grand Canyon.
Uranium withdrawal legislation
Early in 2008, the Trust launched a campaign to withdraw federal land around Grand Canyon National Park from future mining and mineral leases. We first succeeded in convincing the Coconino County Board of Supervisors to pass a unanimous resolution asking Congress to withdraw the lands in the Tusayan Ranger District and House Rock Valley from mineral entry.
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Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva introduced the Grand Canyon Watersheds Protection Act (GCWPA) in Spring 2008. The bill would withdraw from mining 628,886 acres in the Kanab Creek area; 112,655 acres managed by the BLM in House Rock Valley; and 327,367 acres in the Tusayan Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest. It will not affect claims that were shown to contain economically developable uranium deposits prior to the date of the mineral withdrawal.
As Chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands of the House Natural Resources Committee, Congressman Grijalva convened a field hearing in Flagstaff. Significant testimony in support for the GCWPA was provided by Navajo President Joe Shirley, Hualapai Chairman Charles Vaughn, and a representative of Hopi Chairman Ben Nuvamsa.
Congressman Grijalva convened a second hearing in June before the House Subcommittee in Washington, DC. The Trust’s Air and Energy Director testified in favor of the GCWPA, along with Rob Arnberger, who represented the Coalition of NPS Retirees. We also discussed with Congressman Grijalva’s staff a strategy to invoke a little-used “emergency withdrawal provision” in the 1976 Federal Land Management and Policy Act (FLMPA) and assisted them during the next few weeks in organizing the action.
The U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Natural Resources issued an emergency resolution directing the Secretary of the Interior to immediately withdraw over 1 million acres of federal land near Grand Canyon National Park, referencing the map associated with the GCWPA of 2008. The Bush administration ignored the resolution and the BLM continued to permit uranium exploration on the Arizona Strip. Grand Canyon Trust, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Sierra Club sued Secretary of Interior Kempthorne — but the case was dropped when his successor Ken Salazar declared an emergency withdrawal to halt new uranium exploration.
Representative Grijalva reintroduced the GCWPA in the 2009 Congress and the Trust has asked Arizona Senator John McCain to sponsor the bill in the Senate.
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