Biden to establish national monument preserving ancestral tribal land around Grand Canyon

Tusayan, Arizona — President Biden will issue a presidential proclamation Tuesday establishing a new national monument to protect nearly 1 million acres of land around the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona.

The new national monument is meant to preserve the ancestral land that is sacred to several Native American tribes in the area. Previewing the announcement, senior administration officials said the national monument is known as Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni — Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, drawing upon the Havasupai and Hopi languages.

The president is currently in Arizona as part of a three-state swing out West and is set to visit the Grand Canyon on Tuesday.

By establishing this area as a national monument, the Biden administration will effectively ban any new uranium and other hard-rock mining leases in the area. But more than 3,000 mining leases that existed before 2012 — when a 20-year pause on new leases was put in place by the Obama administration — will be allowed to continue. 

Responding to mining industry concerns about potentially limiting uranium production for nuclear energy use, one official said "significant" uranium resources can be found elsewhere, since only 1.3% of the known domestic uranium resources in the U.S. are located in this area.

The officials also said no private property or already-established hunting, fishing and grazing land will be impacted by the new national monument.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American Cabinet secretary, welcomed the announcement and said this decision reiterates that "Native American history is American history." 

Haaland also said this national monument will honor the hard work by Havasupai tribal leaders to preserve their ancestral homelands after they were "driven out" by the federal government in 1919 to form the Grand Canyon National Park. 

"Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument will help address past injustices and create a partnership between the United States and the region's tribal nations in caring for these lands," Haaland said. 

Tuesday's presidential proclamation outlines a "co-stewardship" model of management for this land between the federal government and tribal leaders, along with input from a commission of local and state leaders.

This marks the fifth national monument the president has established so far. The others are located in Illinois and Mississippi, Texas, Nevada and Colorado.

In:
• Biden Administration
• Arizona
• Joe Biden
• Politics
• Grand Canyon

Bo Erickson

Bo Erickson is a reporter covering the White House for CBS News Digital.

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