Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks Thanks Secretary Haaland for Visit to Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni
Earlier today, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland visited Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni, a proposed national monument of 1.1 million acres with cultural connections to at least 12 Tribes and Nations. This Indigenous-led proposal dates back decades to numerous efforts to permanently protect the Grand Canyon region from new uranium mining and other harmful development.
The Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks has joined Tribal and local community leaders, and congressional lawmakers in Arizona, in calling on the Biden Administration to permanently protect the over one million of acres of culturally significant lands near the Grand Canyon known as Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni.
Celebrating Secretary Haaland’s visit to Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni, the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks issued the following statement:
“We thank Secretary Haaland for visiting Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni, a beautiful and sacred landscape. There is a critical need to protect it, and other public lands at risk across the United States.
“Establishing the proposed Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni National Monument would be a critical contribution to the preservation of Native American ancestral lands. It would also help to protect habitat for the incredible biological diversity and numerous threatened, endangered, and rare species in the region.
While the resources within the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park have been protected, the greater Grand Canyon region remains at risk. Over time, the monument designation will help to protect Grand Canyon National Park as well.
“It is within the President’s authority under the Antiquities Act to take swift action to protect these lands and establish a national monument. We encourage the administration to strengthen their conservation legacy – and push hard towards the goals laid out in the 30 x 30 initiative – by establishing protections for places such as Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni.”
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