Statement from Trust for Public Land Advocating for the Protection of the Grand Canyon by Creating the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument

Washington D.C. – Earlier this week, Trust for Public Land [TPL] joined House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and members of the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition in calling on President Biden to protect the Grand Canyon by creating the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument.

A statement from Katie Murtha, TPL’s Vice President for Government Relations calling for the further protection of the Grand Canyon:

“Permanently protecting the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument honors the tribal nations who have lived in and around the Grand Canyon for thousands of years.  The Grand Canyon is culturally significant to more than a dozen Tribes, nations, and tribal associations whose history is rooted in this iconic landscape. Creation of a new National Monument will protect tribal communities from the toxic and possibly devastating effects of proposed uranium mining, while preserving some of the more than 3,000 identified archeological sites in the region.

The Grand Canyon is the heart of the Colorado River Basin, providing clean water, wildlife habitat, and unmatched outdoor recreation opportunities. The Arizona National Scenic Trail, a national treasure and international destination, passes through the proposed Monument as it runs the entire length of Arizona from north to south.”

 Trust for Public Land is proud to stand with Tribes and local communities who have been advocating for the permanent protection of federal public lands near and adjoining Grand Canyon National Park. The proposed Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument will comprise an integral part of the Colorado River watershed and Grand Canyon ecosystem and must be protected for all.”

In Trust for Public Land’s fifty years of work, TPL has contributed to the protection of more than 6,800 acres of national monuments, visited by millions of people annually, as they connect to nature, experience cultural treasures, and enjoy the outdoors. These monuments have included projects at Bandelier, California Coastal, Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers Boyhood Home, Fort Sumter, Pipestone, Rio Grande del Norte, and Stonewall, demonstrating the depth and breadth of places the Antiquities Act protects and the American stories our national monuments tell.

Passed by Congress and signed by President Theodore Roosevelt, in 1906, the Antiquities Act permanently protects land that is determined to have significant cultural, scientific, or natural value.  Without it, places like the Grand Canyon National Park, or Zion National Park would not be protected and open to all.

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