National monuments are generally very popular with the public. National monuments are an easy way to preserve beautiful or historically significant areas, and they’re less work than creating a national park. A national monument only needs a stroke of the president’s pen.
A national monument in the Grand Canyon area proposed by a handful of congressmen and Arizona tribes looks like an easy victory for the Biden administration. But the proposal raises some real concerns for Mojave County . Like many recent national monument designations, the Bhaji Nwabjoiter Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument proposal is unnecessarily gigantic at 1.1 million acres. The president pretended that he used the Antiquities Act of 1906 as a blunt instrument, growing larger each time he designated a national monument, but the act was actually intended as a precision instrument.
Small-scale national monuments can preserve valuable archaeological sites and natural wonders and protect critical water sources without depriving the area of its ability to extract natural resources.
And that’s exactly what this is.
One of the real goals behind this latest push is to stop uranium mining in the region. Proponents of the national monument proposal have been unfaithful about it, warning that mining interests are about to start chipping away at the Grand Canyon. The reality is that very little uranium is currently mined in Arizona, and the exact deposits of uranium are not well known. already interested in doing That’s why we have such a strict permission process.
Uranium mining is controversial, but it represents a key piece of the nation’s energy puzzle.As clean fuels go, nuclear power has a role. A stable supply of uranium is also strategically important for national defense.
The 20-year ban on new uranium mining in areas considered close to the Grand Canyon still has about a decade left. Some of these areas are in Mojave County, miles from the Grand Canyon.
While it is clear that uranium will no longer be mined in this area any time soon, it would be silly to shut down mining capacity assuming it can be mined in a safe and responsible manner. Let’s lock the resource for now. But don’t throw away the key. You may regret it.
