Republican U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar has introduced two pieces of legislation that would walk back the protections of two national monuments in Arizona.
Gosar titled these the Northern Arizona Protection Act and the Southern Arizona Protection Act. The former would nullify the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni National Monument outside the Grand Canyon declared by former President Joe Biden two years ago. And the latter, Ironwood Forest National Monument outside Tucson, which was declared by President Bill Clinton in 2000.
Gosar called the declarations reckless and said they prevent responsible mining.
"Federal lands belong to the American people, not unelected bureaucrats or woke presidents who abuse executive authority to shut them off from productive use," Gosar wrote in a statement.
Environmentalists disagree.
"It’s just another attempt to hand over our cherished public lands to private industry and enrich billionaires," said Laiken Jordahl with the Center for Biological Diversity.
Earlier this year, a judge dismissed a GOP lawmaker-led lawsuit challenging Biden’s designation of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni.
Michel Marizco joined The Show from Flagstaff with the latest on this legislation.
Full conversation
LAUREN GILGER: So tell us ... where this legislation stands now.
MICHEL MARIZCO: Right, so both pieces were introduced two weeks ago and they have not moved forward yet. Gostar titled these the Northern Arizona Protection Act and the Southern Arizona Protection Act. Gostar wrote that the bills would nullify protections that in his words "lock up federal lands." And we're gonna come back to that phrase "lock up" later on in this interview.
GILGER: So, his legislation centers around this language, right, of like a missed opportunity. In his words, he says it kind of makes off limits what he deemed as responsible mining and energy development happening in these areas. Now, both of these monuments were protected using the Antiquities Act, Ironwood by President Clinton in 2000 and Baaj Nwaavjo by President Biden, as we pointed out, just two years ago.
MARIZCO: Yes, and for example, Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni — which protects a vast area from new uranium mining but not current mining — it's popular with Arizona voters. And that's according to a polling that we reported on earlier this year. And among the support for the monument of voters voiced support for tribal involvement in any decisions affecting protected land.
GILGER: Gosar's announcement of this legislation never mentions tribes at all?
MARIZCO: Correct, and local Republicans support the move. Arizona Senate President Warren Peterson calls the new monument an Obama-Biden land grab that would stop America from producing its own uranium.
GILGER: Has there been any response yet from the tribes about this effort, Michel?
MARIZCO: You know, in response to have it sued by tribes and pointed out that the tribe is still there. That was their key focus when this legislation came out a few weeks ago. The Havasupai and the Hopi are represented by the Native American Rights Fund, which sought to intervene in the lawsuit called the Arizona State Legislature vs. Biden. The U.S. District Court in Arizona denied the tribe's request to intervene. And then in January this year, the U.S. District Court here in Arizona dismissed the lawsuit.
GILGER: Right, that one's not gonna happen. OK, so Michel, give us a broader picture here of what mining looks like right now in Arizona — especially in and around the Grand Canyon, which has been so controversial. These national monuments protected some areas, but there is some mining already happening up there, right? The Pinyon Plain Mine.
MARIZCO: Yes, the Pinyon Plain Mine. So that mine, according to its operator Energy Fuels, has been very successful. They said, just very recently, that it's been yielding high-grade uranium. Energy Fuels CEO Mark Chalmers has said recently that the Pinyon Plain Mine is the highest grade uranium deposit mine in the U.S. in the past generation. And he expressed optimism that there's a significant amount of more uranium to extract from that mine.
GILGER: OK, Michel, before I let you go, I want to touch on the other legislation and plans to do away with national monument protections. What do those look like?
MARIZCO: Yes, first, I want to touch on, Utah Republican Celeste Malloy's legislation, and then that would remove president's authority to designate monuments and give that authority to Congress. Malloy and co-signers argue that monument designation has become weaponized, and then this uses the same language as Gosar's legislation. They say that it the protections lock up valuable land. And then the Interior Department, the Trump administration, the Washington Post discovered in April that the department plans to scale back at least six monuments, including Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni and Ironwood.
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