What this win means for the Grand Canyon

Great news! President Biden designated a national monument covering nearly 1 million acres around the Grand Canyon.

No new uranium mining around the Grand Canyon.

This designation is a huge victory for the Grand Canyon, the wildlife that call it home, and current and future generations. The national monument permanently bans new uranium mining claims from being established around the Grand Canyon.¹

Uranium mining is dirty and dangerous.

History has shown exactly why a ban on future uranium mining is so important. To this day, uranium mines that closed decades ago have left some water systems in the Grand Canyon National Park contaminated. In Moab, Utah, workers are still cleaning up 16 million tons of contaminated tailings at the site of one of the uranium mines.²

Having a national monument surrounding the Grand Canyon will help ensure this destructive history is not repeated. Instead, the bison, elk, and other species that live in the Grand Canyon are now safer from toxic pollution. The greater landscape won’t bear the scars of future mining.

Your support made protecting the Grand Canyon possible.

We are proud of the role we played in securing this victory, and we know it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of environmental advocates like you.

With your help, we sent thousands of messages to the Biden administration urging the designation of a national monument on the lands surrounding the Grand Canyon National Park. Now is the time to celebrate that hard work.

1. Tamara Keith, “Biden creates a new national monument near the Grand Canyon,” NPR, August 8, 2023.
2. “Grand Canyon at Risk: Uranium Mining Threatens a National Treasure,” Environment America Research & Policy Center, June 6, 2018.

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