If President Biden doesn’t step in, many Native American tribes are set to lose their sacred land, and more than 40 million Americans’ access to clean water will be in jeopardy.
Despite a 20-year uranium mining moratorium near the Grand Canyon, Donald Trump’s administration took bold steps towards restarting operations at dormant uranium mines outside the Grand Canyon.1 Right now, MAGA Republicans in Congress are pushing to increase uranium mining on the millions of acres of land near the Grand Canyon.
We have to act now to show President Biden this is an unacceptable attack on local tribes and access to clean drinking water.
Sign the petition: Call on President Biden to save the Grand Canyon from uranium mining now!
The Grand Canyon is the largest canyon in the world and has massive historical importance for local tribes. Though the Canyon is visited by millions to witness its beauty and grandeur, it’s also an essential resource for the communities around it. The rivers at the bottom of the canyon carry half a million tons of silt every day and provide clean water to 7 states.2
Many tribes are set to be affected by the mining if President Biden doesn’t act. The Hopi, the Hualapai, the Kaibab,the Las Vegas, the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians, the Navajo Nation, the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, the Yavapai-Apache Nation, the Pueblo of Zuni, the Havasupai Tribe, and many more tribes have strong connection to the Grand Canyon and still call it home to this day.
In fact, this wouldn’t be the first time local tribal communities have been damaged by uranium mining. Since the 1950s, when at least 22 uranium mills were active in areas surrounding the Grand Canyon, more than 500 mines have been abandoned, leaving a toxic legacy in the communities.3
In the southwest, women and newborn babies show higher levels of uranium in their bodies than people in other parts of the country.4 We must take action and demand that President Biden protect the sacred land of indigenous communities and preserve clean drinking water for 40 million people.
We’ve partnered with a coalition of Tribal leaders to call on President Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to establish a monument — totaling 1.1 million acres — to protect the cultural, archeological, and sacred places of ancestral importance to Indigenous peoples and Tribes.
Add your name: President Biden must save the Grand Canyon and protect people's rights to their sacred land and clean water.
Sources:
- Grand Canyon Trust, "Protecting the Grand Canyon Once and for All,” 2021.
- Colorado Water Conservation Board, “Colorado River Basin,” 2023.
- Grand Canyon Trust, "Uranium Mining in the Grand Canyon Region,” 2019.
- AP News, “US official: Research finds uranium in Navajo women, babies,” October 7, 2019.