John,

The power and beauty of the Grand Canyon are unmatched in the natural world. Great pinnacles of stone, carved by water, stand tall, their rainbow hues shifting and changing with the angles of the sun.

A journey through the Grand Canyon is over two hundred miles long, and the descent a mile deep. The Colorado River at the bottom is an irreplaceable natural resource, carrying clean water to seven western states, from Wyoming to California. Home to many Native peoples over the centuries, it is now home to the Havasupai, and it is at the heart of many Tribes’ stories of Creation.

Yet for all its majesty and grandeur, the land is fragile, vulnerable to the onslaught of unchecked human exploitation. It is up to us to protect this national treasure, and our efforts must be continually renewed.

When the Trump administration proposed spending $1.5 billion to prop up the country’s nuclear fuel industry,the Canadian Energy Fuels corporation took the cue to challenge the 20-year uranium mining moratorium established in 2012, and seek to resume the mining of uranium outside Grand Canyon National Park.

We cannot let this threat stand. A coalition of Tribal leaders is calling on President Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to establish a new national monument, extending protection over a million acres of land near the Grand Canyon. Send the President a message now in support of the Tribal leaders’ proposal.

The newly proposed Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument would also protect the Colorado River from toxic uranium mineral production -- preventing the potentially lethal contamination of the drinking water used by more than 40 million people.

Already women and newborn babies in the region exhibit higher levels of uranium in their bodies than people in other parts of the country. More than a quarter of Navajo Nation residents participating in one study recently tested positive for high levels of uranium.

Not surprising, considering that since the 1950s, uranium mining in the Grand Canyon area and surrounding Colorado Plateau has been the source of over half the uranium extracted in the United States. More than three quarters of the mines are located within 50 miles of a reservation, and there have been over 1,000 uranium mines in Navajo Nation alone, including over 500 abandoned mines needing toxic cleanup.

The Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition’s efforts to protect the cultural, archaeological, and sacred places of ancestral importance to Indigenous peoples and Tribes are backed by several members of Congress, including Rep. Raúl Grijalva, ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee.

With the stroke of a pen, President Biden can protect sacred land, Indigenous communities, and the water that serves 40 million people and irrigates 1.8 million acres of land.

Click here to sign and send your direct message to President Biden calling for him to save the Grand Canyon and designate the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument now.

- Amanda

Amanda Ford, Director
Democracy for America
Advocacy Fund