Tell Biden: Protect the Grand Canyon from Toxic Uranium Mining

New uranium mining threatens the Grand Canyon, its waters and its wildlife. But President Biden can stop it. Here's how. The following advertisement from Environment America Research & Policy Center has been sent to you via Mother Jones' email list. Mother Jones is a nonprofit, and most of our budget comes from readers like you, but revenue from advertisers helps us produce more of the hard-hitting journalism you expect. We never disclose your information to an advertiser. Mother Jones does not endorse any candidate, political organization, commercial product, or service, and the views expressed in this email do not constitute any endorsement or recommendation by Mother Jones. [Tell President Biden: Protect the Grand Canyon. Add your name.]( Friend, Grand Canyon National Park is a magical place. But mining could ruin up to a million acres around the park for generations. Among these million acres, you find seeps and springs that feed the waters that carved the Grand Canyon out of ancient rock. You see old-growth ponderosa pines and Douglas firs reaching for the sky, where California condors and Mexican spotted owls soar. You may discover sites that have been sacred to the Hopi, Navajo and other tribes for millennia.1 It's hard to imagine a worse place on Earth for toxic uranium mining than this Grand Canyon watershed. Yet with a few strokes of his pen, President Biden can declare these million acres off-limits forever to industrial mining. [Join us in urging the president to declare a new Grand Canyon National Monument.]( New mining in the Grand Canyon watershed would have ripple effects on the park and the canyon itself. The watershed's seeps, springs and creeks flow into the Colorado River, whose waters created the Grand Canyon some 6 million years ago.2 Now imagine this watershed pockmarked by dirty drilling equipment, toxic tailing pipes and wastewater ponds. Much of the dust, chemical waste and uranium-contaminated water generated by new mining wouldn't go away. It wouldn't even stay in place. It would migrate, carried by ground and surface waters, into the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon itself -- poisoning the water and land for generations. How can we be sure? Because older mining sites here already have polluted springs, endangered wildlife and threatened people's health.3 And the mining industry wants more. Today, there are nearly 600 active mining claims on land surrounding the Grand Canyon.4 The president can stop them. Under the 1906 Antiquities Act, President Biden can establish a new national monument -- a move that would declare 1.1 million acres around the Grand Canyon off-limits to toxic uranium mining forever.5 Proposed by the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition, the idea has the support of the Havasupai, Hopi, Navajo and other tribes, members of the Arizona congressional delegation, and a majority of Arizona residents.6 Yet mining companies are powerful. Some local officials and residents call the proposal a "land grab" (even though the land is already federal land). That's why we need to tell the president that toxic uranium mining doesn't belong here. [Urge President Biden to declare a new national monument protecting the Grand Canyon watershed now.]( Thank you, as always, for standing up for the places we love and the values we share, The team at Environment America Research & Policy Center 1. Wolf Gumerman, "[Urge President Biden to preserve beautiful area surrounding Grand Canyon](," Arizona Capitol Times, June 2, 2023. 2. "[13 Things You Didn't Know About Grand Canyon National Park](," U.S. Department of the Interior, February 23, 2017. 3. "[Grand Canyon at Risk: Uranium Mining Threatens a National Treasure](," Environment America Research & Policy Center, June 6, 2018. 4. Ellen Montgomery, "[Protect the Grand Canyon](," Environment America Research & Policy Center, June 13, 2023. 5. Jake Frederico, "[Tribes, lawmakers urge Biden to protect Grand Canyon region with a new national monument](," Arizona Republic, April 12, 2023. 6. "[2023 Conservation in the West Poll](," Colorado College, February 15, 2023. --------------------------------------------------------------- Your donation will be used to support all of our campaigns to protect the environment, from saving the bees and protecting public lands, to standing up for clean water and fighting climate change. 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