Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni
Grand Canyon National Monument Support

June 6, 2023

President Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Biden:

We express our strong support for the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition and its request that you issue a proclamation to establish the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument and protect more than one million acres of lands surrounding Grand Canyon.

Tribal Nations are the original stewards of the Grand Canyon region and have been since time immemorial. The lands within the monument footprint hold significant cultural and spiritual narratives where their stories and histories are told among the layers of rock and sand and in the water that flows through the canyon.

The proposed Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument is a world-renowned landscape where essential life-giving waters emerge as springs, seeps, and streams. It contains rugged cliffs, pine forests, deep canyons, and grasslands that harbor significant biological diversity and provide habitat for numerous plants and animals, some of which are only found locally or regionally. These lands also provide important recreational opportunities, including wildlife viewing, camping, hiking, hunting, and angling, which are essential to the region’s economy. The Arizona National Scenic Trail, a national treasure and international destination, passes through the proposed Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument as it runs the entire north-south length of Arizona.

While these proposed monument lands are in close proximity to Grand Canyon National Park and waters from these lands flow toward the park and the Colorado River running through it, they are not permanently protected and only have a temporary mineral withdrawal. The region remains at risk to toxic uranium mining among other actions that could damage the lands and harm the waters. Protection of this region as a national monument will prevent damage from new uranium mining and preserve cultural and archaeological areas. This national monument holds an abundance of opportunities and would help to support the economy of northern Arizona.

We add our voices to those of the Havasupai Tribe, Hopi Tribe, Hualapai Tribe, Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, Las Vegas Band of Paiute Indians, Moapa Band of Paiute Indians, Navajo Nation, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni, Yavapai-Apache Nation, and Colorado River Indian Tribes, in asking that you act to protect the lands as outlined in the map provided by the Tribes and that you proclaim the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Amazing Earthfest
Arizona Faith Network
Arizona Heritage Alliance
Arizona Trail Association
Arizonans for Community Choice
Black Hills Clean Water Alliance
Californians for Western Wilderness
Center for Biological Diversity
Chispa AZ
Citizens Awareness Network
Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks
Conservation Lands Foundation
Conservation Northwest
Earth Justice Ministry at UUCP (Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix) Earthjustice
Grand Canyon Trust
Great Basin Resource Watch
GreenLatinos
Hispanic Access Foundation
Information Network for Responsible Mining
Kids Climate Action Network
League of Conservation Voters
Living Rivers
Malach Consulting
National Audubon Society
National Ocean Protection Coalition
National Parks Conservation Association
Natural Resources Defense Council
Northern Front Range Broadband, Great Old Broads for Wilderness
Outdoor Alliance
Patagonia
Rocky Mountain Wild
Saving Island Green Wildlife & Beyond
Sheep Mountain Alliance
Sierra Club – Grand Canyon Chapter
Sustainable Tucson
The Mountain Pact
The Pew Charitable Trusts
The Rewilding Institute
The Wilderness Society
Tucson Audubon Society
Tuleyome
Uranium Watch
Vet Voice Foundation
Western Watersheds Project
Wild Arizona
WildEarth Guardians
Willow Canyon Outdoor Company
Yuma Audubon Society

cc.:
Secretary of the Department of Interior Deb Haaland
Secretary of the Department of Agriculture Tom Vilsack
Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition