by Roger Clark, Grand Canyon Director
Update! The Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives on October 30, 2019! Urge your senators to support the Act in the Senate ›
Over 800 active mining claims lurk on national forests and other public lands around Grand Canyon National Park. Right now, a temporary mining ban prevents new uranium mines from opening up shop here and putting the lands around the Grand Canyon, and the waters that flow into it, at risk — at least, for now.
Congress has an opportunity to protect this natural wonder from uranium mining once and for all. The Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act, which was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on February 26, 2019, exactly 100 years after Congress created the park, would make the current temporary ban on new mines on about 1 million acres of public lands surrounding the national park permanent. It would protect the Grand Canyon from new uranium mines forever.
These lands are the ancestral and spiritual homelands of Indigenous peoples who have long sought to see them permanently protected from uranium mining. Native nations are consistent, persistent, and powerful protectors of the Grand Canyon’s sacred lands and waters. Uranium mining has already left a toxic legacy here, contaminating land, air, and water. Now, Native American leaders are making their voices heard loud and clear in support of the Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act.
