凤凰城-总统乔·拜登白宫官员周一表示，将宣布一个新的国家纪念碑，以保护大峡谷国家公园周围的土地，并限制采矿。
白宫气候顾问阿里·扎伊迪在空军一号上的一次新闻发布会上证实，拜登将在周二访问亚利桑那州北部时呼吁将它指定为第五个国家纪念碑。
扎伊迪补充说，十几个部落“站出来”要求这座纪念碑。
主张限制在大峡谷国家公园周围采矿的人表示希望这将是总统访问背后的原因。
拜登的新国家纪念碑将为后代保留大约1562平方英里(4046平方公里)。
亚利桑那州北部各部落的代表被邀请参加总统的讲话。其中包括亚瓦派-阿帕奇族女主席坦尼娅·路易斯，科罗拉多河印第安部落女主席阿米莉亚·弗洛雷斯，纳瓦霍族总统布·尼格伦和哈瓦苏派部落女议员缔安娜·苏·白鸽·乌古拉。乌奎拉是一群将要表演祈福的部落舞者的一员。
“实际上，我们不希望铀从地下冒出来，因为它会影响我们周围的一切——树木、土地、动物和人类，”乌卡拉说。“这不会停止。”
如果这意味着保护纳瓦霍人和其他部落的土地，尼格伦会支持新的纪念碑。铀矿开采尤其给纳瓦霍部落留下了死亡和疾病的遗产，那里有500多座支持冷战武器的矿井被废弃，并且尚未清理。
“我完全支持它，因为我们已经有过如此糟糕的经历，为什么我们要再次尝试娱乐它呢?”他周一告诉美联社。
他补充说，这个部落至今仍在为那些生活和工作在煤矿周围的人们争取赔偿。
亚利桑那州的部落一直在敦促拜登利用他在1906年文物法下的权力，创建一个新的国家纪念碑，名为Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni。“Baaj Nwaavjo”对Havasupai人来说意味着“部落漫游的地方”，而“I'tah Kukveni”对霍皮部落来说则翻译成“我们的足迹”。
几十年来，部落和环保主义者一直试图保护大峡谷国家公园(Grand Canyon National Park)南北两侧的土地，而共和党议员和采矿业则吹捧经济利益，并将采矿上升为国家安全问题。
内政部对水污染风险的担忧作出反应，于2012年颁布了一项暂停在国家公园周围提交新采矿申请的20年禁令。美国民主党众议员Raul Grijalva多次提出建立国家纪念碑的立法。
2021年，美国地质调查局发现，尽管进行了几十年的铀矿开采，但以高品位铀矿闻名的亚利桑那州北部大片地区的大多数泉水和水井都符合联邦饮用水标准。
2017年，民主党总统巴拉克·奥巴马(Barack Obama)取消了全面的纪念碑指定。这个想法遭到了亚利桑那州共和党州长和两名参议员的敌视。当时的州长道格·杜西威胁要采取法律行动，称亚利桑那州已经有足够多的国家纪念碑。
反对建立纪念碑的人认为，这无助于对抗持续的干旱，可能会阻止森林稀疏，并阻止猎人控制野生动物数量。亚利桑那州边界附近犹他州的牧场主表示，纪念碑的命名将剥夺他们的私有土地。
自那以后，亚利桑那州政治代表团的面貌发生了很大变化。州长凯蒂·霍布斯、民主党参议员马克·凯利和无党派参议员凯尔斯滕·西内马都同意。民主党人霍布斯公开敦促拜登发布任命。在5月份发给拜登的一封信中，霍布斯声称，她听到了包括体育团体和户外团体在内的各种政治派别的人对纪念碑的支持。
矿业公司和将从其业务中受益的地区遭到了强烈反对。莫哈夫县监督员巴斯特·约翰逊(Buster Johnson)说，纪念碑提案感觉完全是政治驱动的，应该就此事举行另一场听证会。他看不出不开发铀资源、减少国家对俄罗斯的依赖有什么意义。
“为了我们国家的安全，我们需要铀，”约翰逊说。“我们出局了。”
亚利桑那州没有铀矿在运营，尽管位于大峡谷国家公园南部的Pinyon平原矿已经开发了多年。其他索赔不受限制。联邦政府表示，该地区已从新的采矿权中撤出的近十几个矿井仍有可能开放，即使被指定为纪念碑，因为它们的采矿权是在2012年之前建立的。
亚利桑那州之后，拜登将于周三前往阿尔伯克基，在那里他将谈论应对气候变化如何创造了新的就业机会。然后，他将于周四访问盐湖城，纪念《契约法案》一周年，该法案为接触有毒物质的退伍军人提供了新的福利。他还将在每个城市举行一次竞选筹款活动。
____美联社记者Chris Megerian在空军一号上，Darlene Superville在弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿，Felicia Fonseca在亚利桑那州弗拉格斯塔夫，促成了这一报告。
Biden will tout long-sought Grand Canyon monument designation during Arizona visit
__PHOENIX --PresidentJoe Bidenwill announce a new national monument to preserve land around Grand Canyon National Park and limit it from mining, White House officials said Monday.
White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi confirmed during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One that Biden will call for the designation during his visit to northern Arizona on Tuesday, making it his fifth national monument.
A dozen tribes “stepped up” and asked for this monument, Zaidi added.
Advocates for limiting mining around Grand Canyon National Park had expressed hope that this would be the reason behind the presidential visit.
Biden 's new national monument designation would preserve about 1,562 square miles (4,046 square kilometers) for future generations.
Representatives of various northern Arizona tribes have been invited to attend the president's remarks. Among them are Yavapai-Apache Nation Chairwoman Tanya Lewis, Colorado River Indian Tribes Chairwoman Amelia Flores, Navajo President Buu Nygren and Havasupai Tribal Councilwoman Dianna Sue White Dove Uqualla. Uqualla is part of a group of tribal dancers who will perform a blessing.
"It's really the uranium we don't want coming out of the ground because it's going to affect everything around us — the trees, the land, the animals, the people," said Uqualla. "It's not going to stop.”
Nygren is on board with the new monument if it means protecting land for Navajo and other tribes. Uranium mining in particular left a legacy of death and disease on the Navajo Nation, where more than 500 mines that supported Cold War weaponry were abandoned and haven't been cleaned up.
“I'm all for it because we've had such a bad experience with it, why would we try to entertain it again?” he told The Associated Press on Monday.
The tribe to this day is still fighting for compensation for people who lived and worked in and around the mines, he added.
Tribes in Arizona have been pushing Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to create a new national monument called Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni. “Baaj Nwaavjo” means “where tribes roam,” for the Havasupai people, while “I’tah Kukveni” translates to “our footprints,” for the Hopi tribe.
Tribes and environmentalists for decades have been trying to safeguard the land north and south of Grand Canyon National Park, while Republican lawmakers and the mining industry tout the economic benefits and raise mining as a matter of national security.
The Interior Department, reacting to concerns over the risk of contaminating water, enacted a 20-year moratorium on the filing of new mining claims around the national park in 2012. Democratic U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva repeatedly has introduced legislation to create a national monument.
A U.S. Geological Survey in 2021 found most springs and wells in a vast region of northern Arizona known for its high-grade uranium ore meet federal drinking water standards despite decades of uranium mining.
In 2017, Democratic President Barack Obama backed off a full-on monument designation. The idea faced a hostile reception from Arizona's Republican governor and two senators. Then-Gov. Doug Ducey threatened legal action, saying Arizona already has enough national monuments.
Opponents of establishing a monument have argued it won’t help combat a lingering drought and could prevent thinning of forests and stop hunters from keeping wildlife populations in check. Ranchers in Utah near the Arizona border say the monument designation would strip them of privately owned land.
The landscape of Arizona's political delegation has since changed considerably. Gov. Katie Hobbs, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Independent, are all on board. Hobbs, a Democrat, has openly urged Biden to issue a designation. In a letter sent to Biden in May, Hobbs claimed that she heard from people across the political spectrum, including sporting groups and outdoor groups, in support of a monument.
Mining companies and the areas that would benefit from their business have been vehemently opposed. Buster Johnson, a Mohave County supervisor, said the monument proposal feels solely politically driven and there should have been another hearing on the matter. He doesn't see the point of not tapping into uranium and making the country less dependent on Russia.
“We need uranium for the security of our country,” Johnson said. “We're out of the game.”
No uranium mines are operating in Arizona, although the Pinyon Plain Mine just south of Grand Canyon National Park has been under development for years. Other claims are grandfathered in. The federal government has said nearly a dozen mines within the area that has been withdrawn from new mining claims could still potentially open, even with the monument designation, because their claims were established before 2012.
After Arizona, Biden will go on to Albuquerque on Wednesday, where he will talk about how fighting climate change has created new jobs. He’ll then visit Salt Lake City on Thursday to mark the first anniversary of the PACT Act, which provides new benefits to veterans who were exposed to toxic substances. He’ll also hold a reelection fundraiser in each city.
____ Associated Press reporters Chris Megerian aboard Air Force One, Darlene Superville in Arlington, Virginia, and Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona, contributed to this report.
