FLAGSTAFF — About 200 people gathered at a public rally in Flagstaff on Tuesday to discuss the proposed designation of a national monument near the Arizona-Utah border.
Proponents argue that the monument will protect tribal communities, archaeological sites, wildlife and watersheds from the impacts of uranium mining and human development. Opponents say the move is federal overreach, a land grab that violates private property rights in the area and could damage industries such as cattle farming.
“The threat of contaminating our waters is real and ongoing,” said Havasupai Tribe Vice President Edmund Tiluci, one of many supporters of the monument speaking. “The pure water flowing through Havasupai village is under constant attack from uranium mining.”
The meeting was hosted by the U.S. Department of the Interior and came after tribal leaders urged President Joe Biden to use the Antiquities Act to build the Baj Nwabjo Ita Kukuveni Grand Canyon National Monument.
The proposed monument will have an area of 1.1 million acres and will include one area within the Kaibab National Forest on the south side of the canyon, two areas in the northwest along the Mojave-Coconino County line, and two areas in the northeast adjacent to the Kaibab Forest.
It will also designate 12 indigenous tribes associated with the canyons to help oversee protected lands.
“There is something very important behind this for the Hopi and many tribal nations, and we have a close relationship with this,” said Hopi President Timothy Nuvangaoma. “We need to bring some protective gear here.
This designation respects the many years of cultural connections between the tribes and the Grand Canyon, and Burge Nowabjo means the “where the tribe walks around” for the Havaspy, and Ita Kukveni means “our footprints” for the Hopi tribe, and was imposed by President Barak Obama in 2012. Tribic leaders said that the permanent of 20 years of mining would protect the area.
Supporters of the move include Arizona Senator Kirsten Cinema and Arizona Democrat Mark Kelly, Arizona Democrats Raul Grijalva and Rep. Ruben Gallego, and City Council members of Flagstaff and Payson.
“Like humans, the waterways are the arteries and veins that carry the blood of life not only to Arizona but to the whole world. It’s what keeps life going,” Nubanyaoma said. “Throughout history, our homeland has been tainted by mining and scars. Those scars don’t heal.”
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Monument May Hinder Future Mining
Part of this designation would make a 20-year mining moratorium permanent and prohibit new uranium mining in the area.
The public lands surrounding the Grand Canyon contain high concentrations of uranium ore. The area has been mined for decades and abandoned mines have caused damage to the environment, wildlife and humans in the surrounding communities.
Uranium mining around the canyon has damaged sacred sites and contaminated the aquifers that feed the Grand Canyon’s springs and streams, according to the Center for Biodiversity.
Contaminants from uranium mining can contaminate aquatic ecosystems for hundreds of years or more, threatening downstream communities, fish and wildlife.
“Once our water is polluted, there is no way to get it back,” said Tiluci. “Our lives would change forever.”
Since the Grand Canyon is part of the Colorado River Basin, there are concerns that pollutants could enter the rivers that supply water to millions of people downstream.
“These lands are truly the watersheds of the Grand Canyon, feeding its fragile springs and streams, and ultimately the Colorado River itself,” said Linda Hamilton, executive director of Grand Canyon River Guides. “There is a direct hydrological connection. What happens above the rim affects everything below.”
Proponents argue that by shielding the basin from uranium mining, the monument will also help protect the region’s vulnerable flora and fauna. The area is home to endangered species like the California condor and humpback whale, as well as a dozen endemic plant species.
But proponents of uranium mining in northern Arizona argue that the extraction methods used today do not pose the kind of contamination risks that have existed in decades past.
Uranium ore releases radon gas, and high exposure to this gas increases the likelihood of developing cancer. An epidemiological study of uranium miners showed a significant increase in lung cancer. During the Cold War, Navajo uranium mining polluted soil, water and rocks, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Since then, most of the affected mines have been operating with ventilation and other measures to reduce radon levels, mine supporters say. In recent years, average annual exposures by uranium miners have fallen to levels comparable to those inhaled in some households. according to the report from the United Nations.
Some debate whether the proposed national monument, located a few miles from the nearest point on the Grand Canyon, could do something to prevent pollution of the Colorado River Basin.
Critics say the proposal ignores local concerns
His office said the bill submitted by Cinema would serve as a framework for working with the Biden administration should it formally declare the monument under the Antiquities Act.
This law sets standards for monuments, including the establishment of Tribal Commissions, consisting of one representative from each of the 12 federally recognized tribes associated with the Grand Canyon, to oversee monument development.
But some local leaders and residents in northern Arizona oppose the designation of the area, which would swallow more than one million acres of land in Coconino and Mojave counties.
Penny Pugh, district director for Rep. Paul Gossar (R-Arizona), said, “This move represents the recent massive land grabbing campaign by the Biden administration and will have a devastating impact on Mojave County.” “Designating an additional 1.1 million acres as a National Monument would further reduce private ownership and harm hardworking rural Americans in Mojave County.”
Howard Ream is the mayor of Colorado, a town of about 2,500 on the Arizona-Utah border. He said local leaders on the Arizona Strip have been taken out of the conversation by the Department of the Interior.
“We want to protect our land, but we also want to know how it will be managed,” Ream said. “Frankly, we don’t understand why this monument should take up so much of Mojave County.”
He urged the commission to hold a public meeting in his own area that would be part of the designation rather than in a city a few miles away from the monument proposal. Other Mojave County supervisors echoed Reams’ concerns about being left out of the conversation.
A group of ranchers have come out to oppose the designation of the monument, saying it encroaches on private property and could threaten their livelihoods.
“They have been custodians of the land for generations,” said former Coconino County Superintendent Jim Parks. “Their families live here. If they abuse the land, they will quickly go out of business.”
They fear losing control of federal land leased for grazing and losing water rights. Chris Heaton, a sixth-generation rancher near Kanab, Utah, said a map of the proposal suggested he would lose his property.
All land within the boundaries of the proposed monument is federal public land, including national forests, according to advocacy group the Grand Canyon Trust. States, tribes, and private lands are not included in monuments.
Two drafts of the proposal have already been published. A final draft is expected to be submitted in the coming months.
Jake Frederico covers environmental issues in the Republic of Arizona and As Central.Send your tips and questions to jake.frederico@arizonarepublic.com.
Environmental reporting at azcentral.com and in the Republic of Arizona is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. Follow The Republic Environmental Reporting Team. environment.azcentral.com and @azcenvironment Facebook, twitter and Instagram.
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