The Grand Canyon is one of the world’s most iconic places. A stunning slash in the earth where we can go to experience the power of nature and hear ― the sound of helicopter blades and airplane engines?
In another regulatory action in the waning days of the Bush administration, the Interior Department on Thursday unveiled a new rule that challenges Congress’s authority to prevent mining planned on public lands.
As the House Interior Appropriations Committee prepares for its July 12 hearing on massive cuts to the country’s natural resources, The Wilderness Society is shining the spotlight on three of the most egregious attacks. The proposed House spending bill would destroy protection for a million acres of Grand Canyon National Park, wipe out funding for critical conservation programs and stop the EPA from protecting Americans from the dangers of pollution.
Uranium mining near the Grand Canyon? It may seem hard to believe, but up until recently, the government has allowed such dangerous mining to be conducted in the sensitive Grand Canyon ecosystem, threatening the Colorado River and Grand Canyon itself with contamination.
Fortunately an end may be in sight. The Bureau of Land Management is currently considering banning new mining claims under the antiquated 1872 Mining Law in the greater Grand Canyon ecosystem. But if and how much land they protect is uncertain.
It’s hard to imagine a West without the Grand Canyon’s grandeur. When you really think about what it takes to protect the beauty of a place, the laws themselves like the Antiquities Act (which lately has come under attack) become much more meaningful.
It is getting louder all the time. It used to be easier to escape the din, and national parks and our other public lands were among the spots you could find peace and quiet. Most of these places remain the best prospects for basking in natural sounds, but the decibel level is on the rise.
One of our nation’s most beloved crown jewels, the Grand Canyon’s spectacular vistas and seemingly bottomless canyons are quite simply an unparalleled page in American tradition.
This majestic land deserves more than to be diminished by toxic uranium mining just miles away from its perimeter, yet that is exactly what is happening today.
