Washington, D.C. — Today, President Joe Biden used his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in Arizona, conserving nearly 1 million acres of the greater Grand Canyon area. In response, Nicole Gentile, senior director of Conservation at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
The area and watershed surrounding Grand Canyon National Park has been at risk from a resurgence of uranium mining, threatening ancestral Tribal homelands, wildlife, and limited clean water supplies. This move provides permanent protections that will conserve valuable U.S. landscapes for generations to come. It honors long-standing connections of the Havasupai and Hopi Tribes while protecting one of the most ecologically significant areas left in the West. President Biden continues to build on his legacy of equitable conservation and his historic promise to conserve 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].