Current:Home > StocksBiden is creating a new national monument near the Grand Canyon-LoTradeCoin
Biden is creating a new national monument near the Grand Canyon
View Date:2024-12-24 07:46:42
President Biden is designating a new national monument near the Grand Canyon on Tuesday. The move protects lands that are sacred to indigenous peoples and permanently bans new uranium mining claims in the area. It covers nearly 1 million acres.
The president will give remarks at the Historic Red Butte Airfield in Arizona at 11 a.m. local time before visiting the Grand Canyon.
Tuesday's announcement is part of a trip that will include New Mexico and Utah, where Biden is expected to make the case for how he's tackling the climate and economic challenges facing Americans in the West.
The monument follows a years-long effort
In the Grand Canyon, tribal nations and conservationists have been calling for additional protections in the area for years, as KNAU's Ryan Heinsius has reported.
A recent statewide poll showed broad support for the proposal, though local ranchers who have worked the land for generations have concerns. Senior administration officials told reporters that the national monument designation upholds private property rights; it also does not affect existing uranium mining claims.
Still, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American Cabinet secretary, called Biden's move "historic."
"It will help protect lands that many tribes referred to as their eternal home, a place of healing and a source of spiritual sustenance," she said. "It will help ensure that indigenous peoples can continue to use these areas for religious ceremonies, hunting and gathering of plants, medicines and other materials, including some found nowhere else on earth. It will protect objects of historic and scientific importance for the benefit of tribes, the public and for future generations."
Haaland called her own trip to the area in May "one of the most meaningful trips of my life."
The new national monument will be called Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument. According to the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition that drafted a proposal for the monument, "Baaj Nwaavjo" means "where tribes roam" in Havasupai, and "I'tah Kukveni" translates to "our ancestral footprints" in Hopi.
Biden's broader agenda
Biden has created four other national monuments during his presidency — one honors Emmett Till, and the others protect land in Nevada, Texas and Colorado.
But the politics of Biden's Western swing are broader than preservation. It is about emphasizing what the administration has already done to invest in the economy and the climate — because many Americans just don't know about it.
Asked whether this week's trip is about advertising accomplishments, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters, "We're going to continue to do our jobs and continue to talk about it ... And the hope is that we'll get our message out."
She said support would continue to build for the president as the legislation is implemented around the country. "We'll see, I think, Americans start to feel and see what it is that we have been able to do in Washington, D.C."
And the Biden reelection campaign is counting on it.
veryGood! (13)
Related
- ‘Maybe Happy Ending’ review: Darren Criss shines in one of the best musicals in years
- Australian sailor speaks about being lost at sea with his dog for months: I didn't really think I'd make it
- Step up Your Skincare and Get $141 Worth of Peter Thomas Roth Face Masks for Just $48
- Masatoshi Ito, who brought 7-Eleven convenience stores to Japan, has died
- Women suing over Idaho’s abortion ban describe dangerous pregnancies, becoming ‘medical refugees’
- Treat Williams’ Wife Honors Late Everwood Actor in Anniversary Message After His Death
- U.S. arrests a Chinese business tycoon in a $1 billion fraud conspiracy
- Ray J Calls Out “Fly Guys” Who Slid Into Wife Princess Love’s DMs During Their Breakup
- Brittany Cartwright Defends Hooking Up With Jax Taylor's Friend Amid Their Divorce
- Safety net with holes? Programs to help crime victims can leave them fronting bills
Ranking
- Brianna LaPaglia Addresses Zach Bryan's Deafening Silence After Emotional Abuse Allegations
- Warming Trends: The Cacophony of the Deep Blue Sea, Microbes in the Atmosphere and a Podcast about ‘Just How High the Stakes Are’
- Biden reassures bank customers and says the failed firms' leaders are fired
- Israeli President Isaac Herzog addresses Congress, emphasizing strength of U.S. ties
- NATO’s Rutte calls for more Western support for Ukraine, warns of Russian alliances
- U.S. arrests a Chinese business tycoon in a $1 billion fraud conspiracy
- Michigan Supreme Court expands parental rights in former same-sex relationships
- Silicon Valley Bank's collapse and rescue
Recommendation
-
Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger welcome their first son together
-
Stocks drop as fears grow about the global banking system
-
Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, Diagnosed With Breast Cancer
-
How the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank affected one startup
-
Queen Elizabeth II's Final 5-Word Diary Entry Revealed
-
Inside Clean Energy: Warren Buffett Explains the Need for a Massive Energy Makeover
-
Judge’s Order Forces Interior Department to Revive Drilling Lease Sales on Federal Lands and Waters
-
Warming Ocean Leaves No Safe Havens for Coral Reefs