Grand Canyon Issues
What Can You Do?
Call your congressional representatives and ask them to support the Grand Canyon Watersheds Protection Act.
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Our accomplishments include a successful lawsuit against Vane Minerals.
In late 2007, the Kaibab National Forest approved a uranium exploration project without any analysis of its environmental impacts. Vane Minerals began drilling 39 test holes, some within 2 miles of the South Rim. The Trust joined with the Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club in filing a suit to challenge the “categorical exclusion” granted by the government and its failure to assess effects of the exploratory drilling under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
After an all-day hearing in Phoenix on April 4, 2008, the court issued a preliminary injunction halting all further drilling. In September, the case was settled to the satisfaction of all parties when the Forest Service agreed to prepare environmental assessments for public review in full compliance with NEPA before authorizing any new drilling activities. The Forest Service has begun the NEPA process, and the Grand Canyon Trust joined others in submitting extensive “scoping comments.”
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