Appeals court tosses GOP lawsuit looking to undo national monument south of Grand Canyon

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a lower district court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit from 2024 that looked to overturn a national monument just south of the Grand Canyon.

Led by Arizona state Republicans, plaintiffs sought to challenge President Joe Biden’s use of the Antiquities Act in 2023 to set aside almost a million acres for Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni — or the Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon.

Mohave County, Colorado City and the town of Fredonia along with Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee joined the state Legislature in filing this suit that has since been tossed out.

Biden’s designation prohibits mining within that area, because those lands are now federally protected. Plaintiffs asserted this ban poses injuries in the form of lost tax revenue, like that from uranium mining.

But in a seven-page ruling, an appeals panel of three judges affirmed the dismissal on all counts. Other arguments made included threats to water, reduced land value and higher energy prices.

In response to the GOP litigant claims, the panel wrote, in part, that “it is speculative whether the right economic conditions and incentives for uranium mining will exist so far into the future.”

Senate President Warren Petersen told KJZZ they pledge to keep fighting for Arizona’s economy and state sovereignty beside the Trump administration to “undo this illegal land grab.”

“Those are the words of a guy who just lost big time,” Attorney General Kris Mayes told KJZZ. “This is just a great day for the 13 different tribes from Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico and the state of Arizona and our nation that wanted to see this beautiful national monument stay in place.”

Mayes intervened against the GOP lawsuit along with Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, stressing “this is a victory for our state — for these really important lands around the Grand Canyon that deserve to be preserved forever.”