Brandon Messick, Williams Grand Canyon News Special Reporter
First Published: February 6, 2024 at 4:50 p.m.
KINGMAN, Ariz. — Until last year, the land around the Grand Canyon was under the jurisdiction of Mohave and Coconino counties.
On August 8, President Biden designated Burge Nwavjo Ita Kukuvieni National Monument, granting permanent protection to the ancestral lands of Native Americans surrounding the Grand Canyon. However, more than 350,000 acres of that monument currently reside in Mohave County, limiting the area's development potential and access to its mining resources, including one of the world's largest high-grade uranium deposits. The Mohave County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to discuss the possibility of a formal challenge to the monument's construction this week, as well as possible legal action against the Biden administration.
Biden's nomination received widespread support in Coconino County, where about 27% of the population is Native American, but the decision was also made despite opposition from Mohave County officials. Travis Lingenfelter, former Mohave County Board of Supervisors chairman, said last year the U.S. Department of the Interior asked Coconino County residents for input on the proposed national monument, but there were no plans to include Mohave County officials on the board.・There was no active effort by Interior Secretary Haaland. discussion.
The Mohave County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 5 considered and likely approved a formal challenge to the monument designation. According to the resolution, Biden improperly designated the 917,618-acre monument as a “site of historical or scientific interest,” while simultaneously providing the area with the care and management necessary for new federal protections. failed to confine the monument to the smallest possible area.
According to the resolution, the president violated the Antiquities Act of 1906 and the Arizona-New Mexico Enabling Act by restricting and violating the National Trust Act.
The proposed resolution also says the new monument would harm Mohave County, specifically limiting both economic development and mining opportunities within county lines.
Last year, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Thomas derided the new national monument as an administrative overreach and “dictator-style land grab” and threatened legal action against the Biden administration. was being threatened.
But a similar challenge to Biden's designation of it as a national monument last year failed. In Utah, counties called for scaling back Biden's previous expansion of Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Those lawsuits were dismissed by U.S. District Judge David Nuffer, who said that only Congress has the power to limit the president's power or revoke national monument designations.
Mohave County supervisors are scheduled to discuss the resolution and possible legal action against the Biden administration at their next board meeting on Feb. 5 in Kingman.
