Conservation groups are working with as well as local, state and federal policy makers to ensure that the Grand

Canyon, its watershed, and the health of area residents is protected from the harmful impacts of uranium mining. We

are supporting a proposal to protect one million acres near the Grand Canyon from new future mining activities,

including uranium mining, and also have challenged a proposal to allow uranium mining exploration within only a

couple of miles of the Park boundary.

to explore for uranium in the Tusayan Ranger District. This will allow up to 39 new uranium-exploration

drilling sites in the area. Two of these drill sites are just two miles from the border of Grand Canyon National

Park, south of Tusayan Ruins, and four miles from the rim of the Canyon itself. The water in the area of the

drilling site all drains toward Grand Canyon.

Tusayan Ranger district alone. Thousands more have been staked on Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

public lands adjacent to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in the Kanab Creek drainage and House Rock

Valley.

the last uranium rush, are proposing to reopen the mine as a full mining operation. The Canyon Mine is

located close to Red Butte, a site sacred to the Havasupai tribe and only 13 miles south of Grand Canyon.

Conservationists and the Havasupai tribe have previously objected to this mine.

and is contaminated by radioactive materials. As documented in a 2000-2001 survey radioactive levels were

found that reached the maximum allowable for human consumption. The contamination was significantly

higher than any other stream tested in the Grand Canyon. The National Park Service warns that water in Horn

Creek should not be consumed.” (Testimony of Rob Elliott, Arizona Raft Adventures)

state and federal lands, this drilling would result in significant negative impacts in the area including to the

ground and surface water.

and other reservoirs down river – potentially posing water quality issues for downstream Colorado River water

users including Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Diego, all of which get drinking water

from the Colorado River.

traffic generated by mining activities, could seriously degrade the visitor experiences at Grand Canyon

National Park. The Grand Canyon National Park generates more than $687 million dollars for the northern

Arizona economy each year. Adverse impacts to the Grand Canyon could hurt the area’s tourism and

recreation business.

Theodore Roosevelt protected the North Kaibab Ranger District from mining when he created the Kaibab

Game Preserve in 1906. The tribal lands bordering the Park are all off limits to uranium development, and

President Bill Clinton protected Grand Canyon-Parashant and Vermilion Cliffs National Monuments when he

established them. This only leaves the Tusayan Ranger District and the BLM public lands in the Kanab Creek

Drainage and House Rock Valley as areas where uranium mining can occur on the borders of the Park or

along important watersheds of the Park.

HR 5583, legislation which would ban new mining claims on 1 million acres of national forests and public

lands bordering Grand Canyon National Park.

“proven” claims, will still be allowed to operate under the 1872 Mining Law. Therefore, it is critical that this

legislative withdrawal also act as a big step towards much needed reform of this arcane law.

To help protect Grand Canyon and its watershed from uranium mining, please write a comment in support of the H.R.

5583, the Grand Canyon Watersheds Protection Act of 2008, which will withdraw approximately one million acres

near the Grand Canyon from mineral exploration under the 1872 Mining Act. We also need your support for reform

of the 1872 mining law