Flagstaff businesss leaders ask for designation of Grand Canyon National Monument

Nicholas Petrusek of Environment Arizona speaks about the importance of preserving Grand Canyon and its surrounding land areas. Photo/Ryan Beam

Nicholas Petrusek of Environment Arizona speaks about the importance of preserving Grand Canyon and its surrounding land areas. Photo/Ryan Beam

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — On Dec. 21, city business owners and community leaders joined a nationwide campaign urging President Barack Obama to permanently protect America’s most iconic national park — the Grand Canyon— from toxic uranium mining on public lands surrounding the park.

Over 25 local business owners, community leaders, and members of a coalition of environmental organizations, as well as several passionate citizens, called on Obama to create the Greater Grand Canyon Heritage National Monument before he leaves office.

The proposed monument would prevent new mining and logging on 1.7 million acres of public land surrounding the national park. The groups said the land provides protection to the Colorado River and its watershed, which supplies drinking water to more than 25 million people downstream.

The event was held at Dark Sky Brewing Co. in the heart of downtown Flagstaff. Owner and brewer Nick Irvine offered a personal take on what the monument means to him.

“My heart belongs in the canyon,” he said. “Every full moon that I see, every eclipse, every anniversary, me and my wife do a rim-to-rim. We are in that canyon, we are learning from that canyon. Everyone who experiences it is changed, and if we change it permanently by allowing [uranium mining], we are doing the Earth a massive disservice.”

Ash Patel, owner of Southwest Hospitality Management, said there were vast economic benefits that Grand Canyon tourism brings local businesses.

“Our growing businesses all depend on the Grand Canyon and the greater Grand Canyon area and the visitors they attract,” he said. “In our hotels alone, over the past 26 years we have served millions of customers who have come through to see these natural wonders.”

Grand Canyon National Park is one of the nation’s most visited parks, drawing 6 million people each year for hiking, paddling, and more, sustaining thousands of jobs and generating $300 million in economic activity.

Mining isn’t currently allowed within the park itself, and new mines are currently prevented under a 20-year moratorium issued by the Obama administration in 2012.  

But as the price of uranium has climbed, companies are pushing for the moratorium to be lifted. One company, Energy Fuels, Inc. has begun to reopen a mine, the Canyon Mine, not covered by the moratorium, just six miles from the park’s popular South Rim.

Old mines around and inside the national park have left water contamination that lingers to this day, and new mining could further harm the Colorado River and its watershed.

“This year, we are celebrating the 100th birthday of our national parks, and there’s no better time to protect this great American icon,” said Nicholas Petrusek, a campaign organizer with Environment Arizona. “In Flagstaff, we’ve seen how hundreds of people and dozens of business owners and community leaders want President Obama to act now and protect the Grand Canyon forever.”

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