Pew Supports Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition’s New Monument Proposal

WASHINGTON—The Pew Charitable Trusts expressed support today for the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition’s proposal to protect approximately 1 million acres in the Grand Canyon region as the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument. This northern Arizona landscape has sustained Indigenous communities since time immemorial and continues to hold spiritual and cultural importance to Tribes in the region, including Havasupai Tribe, Hopi Tribe, Hualapai Tribe, Kaibab Paiute Tribe, Las Vegas Band of Paiute Tribe, Moapa Band of Paiutes, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Navajo Nation, San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, Yavapai-Apache Nation, Pueblo of Zuni, and the Colorado River Indian Tribes.

Cut by the Colorado River over millions of years, the Grand Canyon is one of the most iconic and treasured natural features in the United States. In addition to its cultural and historical values, the region provides clean drinking water to millions of people living downstream, supports agricultural operations, sustains the local tourism economy through abundant options for outdoor recreation, and provides habitat for endangered species such as the California condor and the fish humpback chub. However, outside of Grand Canyon National Park and nearby national monuments, this significant landscape and the communities who depend on it continue to be threatened by potential uranium mining, other extractive development, and the effects of climate change.

The Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon monument proposal is supported by Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), and many local and state leaders, businesses, and community members.

Marcia Argust, director of Pew’s U.S. public lands and rivers conservation project, issued this statement: 

“Pew thanks the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition’s member nations for their many decades of leadership to protect the Grand Canyon region. The Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument proposal is an opportunity to conserve this important region and watershed, support a critical economic engine for the local and state communities, and honor the request of Tribal nations.

“Pew urges the Biden administration to swiftly advance this proposal and ensure this landscape remains grand for present and future generations.”

Because of the continued threats to the region, the Obama administration in 2012 issued a 20-year moratorium on new mining claims on approximately 1 million acres of federally managed land surrounding the national park. Although that ban is slated to hold until 2032, it could be overturned at any time through a public process initiated by a presidential administration.