Ninth Circuit Rejects GOP Effort To Undo Biden’s Million-Acre Monument By Grand Canyon
By Staff Reporter |
A federal appeals court rejected Republican lawmakers’ effort to undo a million-acre monument near the Grand Canyon.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld former President Joe Biden’s designation of the monument. Biden issued a proclamation establishing the monument on land surrounding the Grand Canyon National Park. The former president justified its creation as a means of conservation and deference to Native American tribe history.
The acreage is now referred to as the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.
The monument name comes from two of the Native American tribes who lived in the region: the Havasupai (Baaj Nwaavjo, meaning “where Indigenous peoples roam,” and I’tah Kukveni meaning “our ancestral foot prints”).
The designation further shielded the acreage from mining operations, first prohibited in 2012 under a Department of Interior (DOI) ban lasting until at least 2032.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service jointly manage the monument.
The initial announcement prompted lawmakers to call Biden’s proclamation a “dictator-style land grab” and “government overreach” that had the potential to impact national security.
Arizona legislative leaders, State Treasurer Kimberly Yee, Mohave County, and the towns of Colorado City and Fredonia sued to reverse the designation in 2024.
The three local governments argued the monument would hurt the potential of future tax revenues, pending the DOI ban lapsing after 2032. Colorado City also argued the water supply coming from an aquifer under the monument could be infringed if federal actors decided to restrict it.
Arizona lawmakers and the state treasurer argued the monument designation limited their ability to sell, lease, set royalty rates, and set values for the land. They also argued the designation forced them to divert resources to address the effects of the monument.
As to the ban on uranium mining, all against the designation claimed economic harm would occur due to the potential for higher energy prices in the future.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected all of those arguments in a ruling issued on Wednesday. The judges found their claims to be speculative.
Apart from the physical land management provided by BLM, the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument is overseen by a Monument Advisory Committee (MAC).
The MAC, established in the fall of 2024, has 15 members:
- Luke Thompson, Arizona Game and Fishing Department representative;
- Jason Chavez, Gov. Katie Hobbs’ tribal affairs director;
- Patrice Horstman, Coconino County Board of Supervisors member;
- Angelita Bulletts, BLM district manager and Paiute tribal member;
- Bennett Wakayuta, Hualapai tribal member;
- Lena Fowler, Coconino County Board of Supervisors member and Navajo tribal member;
- Forrest Radarian, a high school science teacher representing outdoor recreations;
- Amanda Podmore, a conservationist with Grand Canyon Trust;
- James “Jim” Unmacht, executive director of Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife Conservation;
- Kathryn Leonard, state historic preservation officer with Arizona State Parks and Trails;
- Clare Aslan, associate professor and director of Northern Arizona University’s school of earth and sustainability;
- Sherre Finicum, a rancher;
- Clarinda Vail, mayor of the town of Tusayan; and
- Members of the public Dale Barlow and Lydia Breunig.
Their terms are set to expire in 2027 or 2028. It doesn’t appear that the MAC has conducted any meetings.
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