President Joe Biden is set to establish his fifth national monument Tuesday near Grand Canyon National Park, protecting it from new uranium mining claims in the area amid a push to conserve 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030 that has also seen him move to restore protections rolled back during the Trump Administration.
A young woman is sitting on a rock near Yavapai Point on the South Rim overlooking the Grand Canyon ... [+]
Officially called the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, the establishment Tuesday answers calls from tribal nations and conservationists asking for additional protections in the area.
The new park protects about 1,562 square miles and makes permanent an Obama-era moratorium on new uranium mining in the area set to expire in 2032, though it does not affect existing uranium mining claims.
The national monument will be announced on the first stop of a three-state tour this week and is meant to bolster the popularity of the president's energy policies, the New York Times reported—71% of Americans say they’ve heard little to nothing about the Inflation Reduction Act meant to cut emissions and more than half of Americans say they disapprove of Biden’s handling of climate change.
In addition to the five monuments he’s established—four of which have to do with the protection of tribal lands—Biden has restored three national monuments that were partially cut by President Donald Trump: the Bears Ears National Monument, Grand Staircase-Escalante and the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, reinstating protections Trump removed to allow commercial fishing at the marine monument.
Biden’s establishment of national monuments is ahead of the pace of other recent Democrats: Barack Obama established a total of 29 national monuments in his presidency but only four by the end of his first term, and Bill Clinton created 19 and expanded three others, but all but one of the designations were made during his last year in office.
Baaj nwaavjo means “where Indigenous peoples roam” in the Havasupai language, and i’tah kukveni means “our ancestral footprints” in Hopi, the White House said.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks with Reverend Wheeler Parker, Jr., a member of the Till family, ... [+]
Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument—Biden last month established a monument that will stretch across two states and three locations honor the life and death of Emmett Till, a Black 14-year-old who was lynched in 1955, and his mother Mamie Till-Mobley, who dedicated her life to spreading the word about his death and moving the civil rights movement forward.
The Avi Kwa Ame National Monument.
Avi Kwa Ame National Monument—The newly established Avi Kwa Ame National Monument, designated in March, protects more than a half million acres of the Mojave Desert. The area is among the most sacred places for the Mojave, Chemehuevi, and some Southern Paiute people, the White House says. Indigenous groups applauded the move but some, like Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo (R), called the monument a "historic mistake" and said it puts long-planned development at risk.
Pastor Moses Borjas of Por La Creación speaks as Castner Range activists deliver over 137,000 ... [+]
Castner Range National Monument—This monument in El Paso is home to cultural sites for Tribal Nations including the Apache and Pueblo peoples and the Comanche Nation, according to the White House. The Army used the site for training and testing until 1966. The monument consists of 6,672 acres of high-desert mountains.
U.S. President Joe Biden walks through Camp Hale before designating the area as a national monument ... [+]
Camp Hale National Monument—Camp Hale was Biden's first entirely new national monument, established in October. The 53,800-acre site held training grounds for the Army in the 1940s and is a wildlife habitat for species including elk and lynxes. The site is also within the ancestral lands of the Ute Tribes, which they were forced to relinquish by a 1880 Congressional declaration.
Biden to Designate Monument Near Grand Canyon, Preventing Uranium Mining (New York Times)
Emmett Till Monument To Stretch Across Two States: Everything We Know About Biden's Order (Forbes)
As Ecotourism Booms, Conservation Leader Says Global National Parks Need More Protection Now (Forbes)
China Eyes 4 Unsecured U.S. Marine National Monuments In The Pacific (Forbes)