Tribes back bill to ban new uranium mining around Grand Canyon

Tuesday, June 4, 2019  

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Fresh off one policy strike against the Trump administration, tribes and Democrats in Congress are looking to score another with a ban on new uranium mining around the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

Leaders of the Havasupai Tribe and the Navajo Nation joined key lawmakers at the U.S. Capitol here on Tuesday in support of H.R.1373, the Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act. The bill, introduced on the 100th anniversary of the area's designation as a national park, would bar development on lands the tribes call home and hold sacred.

"Stop uranium mining on the rims of our canyon home," said Carletta Tilousi, a council member from the Havasupai Tribe, whose citizens have lived in the area for centuries. Toxic waste from development has polluted the water and has claimed far too many lives, she added.

"We want a safe home, we want clean water, and we deserve that, as the first Americans here in this country," Tilousi asserted in the nation's capital.

“We are in near extinction,” says Carletta Tilousi, council member from Havasupai Tribe in calling for ban on uranium mining around its homelands in the Grand Canyon. Tribe supports H.R.1373, the Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act. #KeepItGrand #HonorTheSacred pic.twitter.com/qcME5ehSMW

— indianz.com (@indianz) June 4, 2019

Vice President Myron Lizer of the Navajo Nation voiced similar concerns. Though uranium mining is now banned on the reservation, past development has poisoned his people's homelands and has caused numerous health problems and even deaths, he said.

“The Navajo Nation has suffered profound impacts from uranium mining,” Lizer said, citing the 500-plus abandoned sites where high levels of toxins remain.

Rep. Deb Haaland (D-New Mexico), who is one of the first two Native women in Congress, joined the tribal leaders in explaining how the uranium industry has impacted the first Americans. Her tribe, the Pueblo of Laguna, dealt with a mine on its reservation in neighboring New Mexico for decades.

“I know all too well the damaging effects uranium mining can have on a community,” Haaland said of a development where cleanup efforts have yet to begin, more than 30 years after winding down.

“The Navajo Nation has suffered profound impacts from uranium mining,” says Vice President Myron Lizer. Tribe has banned uranium mining on reservation and supports ban on new development around Grand Canyon. #KeepItGrand #HonorTheSacred @NNVPLizer2019 pic.twitter.com/eoNcjYvbIP

— indianz.com (@indianz) June 4, 2019

As the first Native person to serve as vice chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, Haaland will be able to carry that story, as well as those of the tribes, to a bigger platform. On Wednesday, H.R.1373 is getting its first hearing before the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands, which the Native lawmaker chairs.

“Everybody knows it’s a special place,” Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona), the chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, said of the Grand Canyon.

“It’s a sacred place for many tribes," added Grijalva, who introduced H.R.1373 on February 26, the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Grand Canyon National Park.

A second bill is on the agenda for Wednesday morning's hearing on the Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act and its inclusion is no accident. H.R.2181, the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act, bans energy development around Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico.

“I know all too well the damaging effects uranium mining can have on a community,” says Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM). Her tribe, Laguna Pueblo, had uranium mine on reservation. She chairs House subcommittee that will hear H.R.1373, Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act. #KeepItGrand pic.twitter.com/h2RUL1Npmj

— indianz.com (@indianz) June 4, 2019

Just last week, the Trump administration agreed to hold off on oil and gas leases around Chaco in response to opposition from Democrats in Congress, as well as Pueblo tribes and the Navajo Nation. Vice President Lizer is among the witnesses for the hearing.

"We Navajos are tasked with protecting the land," Lizer said at the U.S. Capitol.

Whether the Department of the Interior, which oversees both Grand Canyon and Chaco, believes the same will be addressed for the record on Capitol Hill. But the answers won't come from the highest reaches of the political team at the agency with the most responsibilities in Indian Country -- instead, a mid-level representative from the Bureau of Land Management is scheduled to testify at the hearing.

In the case of Grand Canyon, former Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar in 2012 withdrew one million acres from new uranium mining claims for up to 20 years. Industry groups filed suit in response but lost before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The U.S. Supreme Court later refused to review the matter, letting the Obama-era withdrawal stand.

Former Secretary Ryan Zinke, who ran Interior between January 2017 and January 2019, later said he had no plans to revisit the issue. He's since been replaced by David Bernhardt, his former deputy, whose focus on Grand Canyon has been addressing long-standing allegations of sexual harassment, misconduct and mismanagement rather than the ban.

Bernhardt was invited to visit Grand Canyon during his confirmation hearing in March. When asked about Chaco, he appeared to be non-committal about oil and gas development there.

But after a visit to the area and meeting with Pueblo and Navajo leaders May 28, he announced a concession. Leasing around Chaco would not proceed without considering tribal views, he determined, and not without looking at the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act, which calls for a 10-mile buffer zone in which development would be permanently prohibited.

Of his excursion to the lands where Pueblo and Navajo ancestors built communities, held ceremonies and laid their loved ones to rest, Bernhardt said: "I walked away with a greater sense of appreciation of the magnificent site managed by the National Park Service and a better understanding of the of tribal leaders’ views of its cultural significance."

In a case that was separate from the Obama-era withdrawal of new uranium claims around Grand Canyon, the Havasupai Tribe challenged the existing mining rights at the Canyon Mine. The development, about six miles south of Grand Canyon, is located on land managed by the U.S. Forest Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The area also falls within the Red Butte Traditional Cultural Property, a designation granted in 2010 at the insistence of the tribe. But the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals largely upheld the mining claims of Energy Fuels Resources, the owner of the Canyon Mine.

"A lot of my ancestors that stood up in the 1980s against Canyon Mine, located right next to our sacred mountain, have passed away," Carletta Tilousi, the Havasupai council member, said at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday.

"They told us to keep fighting this fight, to protect our water and our existence," Tilousi said.

The tribe subsequently asked the Supreme Court to reverse the 9th Circuit decision on the grounds that the reopening of the Canyon Mine should be subjected to additional environmental review. The Trump administration didn't bother to respond to the petition, a step taken usually when the government feels its case is strong enough to withstand a challenge

Sure enough, the justices denied the petition in Havasupai Tribe v. Provencio in an order on May 20. No explanation was given for the action.

Despite the setback, the 9th Circuit ruling gave the tribe and conservation groups an opening to challenge the mining operation on different grounds. That holding has not been changed.

The hearing on the Grand Canyon and Chaco legislation takes place at 10am Eastern on Wednesday in Room 1324 of the Longworth House Office Building. It will be webcast by the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands.

The full witness list follows:

Panel I
Mr. Michael Nedd (All Bills)
Deputy Director, Operations
The Bureau of Land Management

Panel II
The Honorable Carletta Tilousi (H.R. 1373)
Councilwoman
Havasupai Tribe

The Honorable Coral Evans (H.R. 1373)
Mayor
City of Flagstaff, Arizona

Dr. Peter Huntoon (H.R. 1373)
Retired Professor of Geology and Geophysics
The University of Wyoming

The Honorable Buster D. Johnson (H.R. 1373)
District 3 Supervisor
Mohave County Board of Supervisors

Panel III
The Honorable E. Paul Torres (H.R. 2181)
Chairman
All Pueblo Council of Governors

The Honorable Myron Lizer (H.R. 2181)
Vice President
Navajo Nation

The Honorable Timothy Menchego (H.R. 2181)
Governor
Pueblo of Santa Ana

Mr. Samuel Sage (H.R. 2181)
Community Services Coordinator
Counselor Chapter House
Ms. Delora Hesuse (H.R. 2181)
Navajo Indian Allottee

National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands Subcommittee Legislative Hearing (June 5, 2019)

National Mining Association v. Zinke (December 12, 2017)
Havasupai Tribe v. Provencio (December 12, 2017)
Havasupai Tribe v. Provencio [Revised Decision] (October 25, 2018)

No. 18-1239: Havasupai Tribe v. Provencio
No. 17-1286: National Mining Association v. Zinke
No. 17-1290: American Exploration & Mining Association v. Zinke

.@realDonaldTrump is considering opening land near @GrandCanyonNPS to mining interests, putting the park and water for millions of people at risk.

Chair @RepRaulGrijalva and supporters spoke today on his bill to permanently ban mining to #KeepItGrand. pic.twitter.com/8pDuVoaeJy

— Natural Resources Committee (@NRDems) June 4, 2019

Today, I joined my colleagues and Arizonans to champion efforts to protect the Grand Canyon from uranium mining. We have a responsibility to protect this natural wonder and the people who call the region home. pic.twitter.com/8yispKnk5P

— Rep. Tom O'Halleran (@RepOHalleran) June 4, 2019

Navajo Nation Vice President Lizer expressing his support at the Press Conference for H.R. 1373 (Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act) that is introduced by @RepRaulGrijalva. #KeepItGrand
Ahé’hee pic.twitter.com/YoS7viIjZc

— Navajo Nation Vice President Myron Lizer (@NNVPLizer2019) June 4, 2019

I can’t believe that more than 100 years after the establishment of Grand Canyon National Park, we’re still fighting to protect it from special interests.

The Grand Canyon belongs to all of us, and my bill will ensure it will be protected permanently. #KeepItGrand pic.twitter.com/9wwwSIvfUu

— Raul M. Grijalva (@RepRaulGrijalva) June 4, 2019

Proud to join my friends @RepOHalleran, @RepDebHaaland, and other Arizona advocates and tribal leaders to support permanent protections for the Grand Canyon & protect the health, land, and water of the people who live there. #KeepItGrand pic.twitter.com/2PM8F0ZTv7

— Raul M. Grijalva (@RepRaulGrijalva) June 4, 2019

NOW: thank you @RepRaulGrijalva for your leadership to permanently protect the Grand Canyon from the uranium industry’s deadly pollution. Support the Grand Canyon Centennial Protectuon Act. Let’s #keepitGrand pic.twitter.com/5ytnX0fVgK

— Randi Spivak (@Spivak14) June 4, 2019

Excited to join ⁦@RepRaulGrijalva⁩ as he champions legislation to protect the Grand Canyon from the horrors of Uranium Mining. #keepitgrand #keeppubliclandsinpublichands pic.twitter.com/musB5Lofe3

— Blaine McFeeley (@BlaineMcFeeley) June 4, 2019

Grand Canyon (AZ) Sierra Club Chapter Director @SLBahr on the Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act: The Grand Canyon "is more than a photo op. The Grand Canyon is a wonder... that deserves our utmost respect and care." #KeepItGrand pic.twitter.com/TqLuCjwUZ4

— Sierra Club (@SierraClub) June 4, 2019

Trump administration offers another concession to tribes after loss in court (May 29, 2019)
Witness list for Congressional field hearing on sacred sites and energy development (April 15, 2019)
'Enough is enough': Tribes endorse bill to protect ancestral lands from Trump (April 9, 2019)
Cronkite News: Havasupai Tribe wins ruling in uranium mining dispute (November 1, 2018)
'The best news we've heard': Uranium mining ban at Grand Canyon stands (October 2, 2018)
Trump administration plans drilling on ancestral tribal territory (July 26, 2018)
'That's a big screwup': Federal agency exposed tribal sites in drilling report (July 18, 2018)
Cronkite News: Secretary Zinke pressed on uranium mining ban at Grand Canyon (June 20, 2018)
Native Sun News Today: Tribes seek no-drill zone on ancestral territory (June 5, 2018)
Tribes back bill to protect ancestral lands from Trump's energy push (May 22, 2018)
Cronkite News: Havasupai Tribe calls on President Trump to stop uranium mine (March 2, 2018)
Havasupai Tribe sees mixed victory in litigation to protect Grand Canyon from uranium (December 13, 2017)
Pueblo tribes seek ban on energy development on ancestral land in New Mexico (September 27, 2017)