Release Date: August 8, 2023
Media Contact: Emily Thompson, Em************@pr********.org
Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks Celebrates the Designation of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument
Today, President Biden used his authority under the Antiquities Act designate the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in Arizona.
Mike Murray, Chair of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, issued this statement following the designation:
“Today, we join the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition and a strong community of supporters to celebrate President Biden’s designation of the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.
This new national monument is home to critical natural and cultural resources, and numerous Tribes maintain cultural connections to these ancestral lands. This national monument designation will not only protect the landscape from toxic uranium mining, it will provide visitors with continued access to outdoor recreation opportunities, protect cultural and archaeological areas, and help ensure the safety of numerous threatened, endangered, and rare species that call this area home.
Grand Canyon National Park was initially protected as a national monument and today, it is one of the most visited national parks in the country. We are so pleased that the lands surrounding this national park will now benefit from the protections of a national monument designation as well.
We thank President Biden for designating a new national monument today and urge his administration to strengthen their conservation legacy and act swiftly to designate other culturally and naturally significant spaces as national monuments.”