Photo by Alicyn Gitlin.
President Biden continued building his monumental legacy this week, designating Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni - Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in Arizona as the country’s newest national monument.
The new monument will protect nearly a million acres of spiritually, historically, and ecologically significant lands and waters in the Grand Canyon region and protect the landscape from further uranium mining. It’s a major victory for the communities, lands, and wildlife of Arizona, and it’s the culmination of years of work by the Tribes who have called the area home since time immemorial.
Indigenous peoples have stewarded the lands of the Grand Canyon region for generations. They have been rooted in this iconic landscape where their stories and histories are told among the layers of rock and sand and in the water that flows through the canyon. Despite that importance, for too long, this area was threatened by extraction, especially uranium mining. The new monument will protect unique biodiversity, preserve important habitat for rare and endangered species, and offer critical refuge and migratory corridor for hundreds of bird and mammal species.
The new national monument ensures that people will be able to experience the Grand Canyon free from development for years to come, but it’s particularly important for Tribal communities. Baaj Nwaavjo means “where tribes roam” for the Havasupai Tribe, and I’tah Kukveni means “our ancestral footprints” for the Hopi Tribe. Twelve Tribes will also be involved in the administration and management of the monument.
Biden’s designation also gets us one step closer to achieving the administration’s ambitious initiative to protect 30 percent of lands and waters in the United States by 2030. As president, Biden has protected nearly 1.5 million acres through new national monuments alone – far more than his two predecessors had in their first terms combined. Today’s designation honors Tribes, but it is also climate action.
National monuments protect the landscapes and ecosystems that make up this country, but they also preserve the stories, sites, and practices that tell us who we are. Each one adds a chapter to the national narrative and ensures those legacies live on beyond us. The Grand Canyon has been here for millennia, and this new national monument ensures it will be here for generations to come.