Protect the Grand Canyon

Recently, President Barack Obama visited the Grand Canyon, America's most iconic landmark. But uranium mining within miles of its majestic rim threatens to tarnish this timeless treasure.

Grand Canyon mining postcard The U.S. still has on the books a 19th century law that allows mining around dozens of national parks and in most national forestlands. Signed by President Ulysses S. Grant with prospectors and pack mules in mind, the 1872 Mining Law allows gold, uranium and other hardrock metals to be taken from most western public lands almost for free and with few restrictions or cleanup requirements.

The Obama administration recently took emergency action to halt temporarily new claimstaking around Grand Canyon National Park. Now, its Department of Interior is asking the public whether mining should be prohibited on a long-term basis around the park's boundaries. While this action is an important first step, neither this treasure nor dozens like it will be safe until Congress gives mining a new law.

We need your help. Please send a letter to Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar. Thank the Obama administration for taking emergency action and offer your support for the proposed 20-year "withdrawal" of 1 million acres around Grand Canyon National Park from new mining claims. Ask him to protect our parks and forests on a permanent basis by working with Congress to modernize the 1872 Mining Law.

With your letter of support, we can ensure these special places will be preserved for future generations.

Use the letter below as a guide but please add your own comments.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Protect the Grand Canyon

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

Thank you for taking emergency action to protect America's most iconic landmark, the Grand Canyon National Park and the valuable watershed and ecosystem that surround it from new mining. We ask you to make this protection long-term by withdrawing 1 million acres around its boundaries from new mining claims.

We also call on you, as a chief steward of our natural heritage, to play a leadership role in ensuring the Grand Canyon and other national parks and special places are protected from the harmful impacts of hardrock mining on a permanent basis through reform of the 1872 Mining Law. By modernizing this outdated statute, we can ensure America's most treasured lands will remain a legacy for generations to come.

Please consider this as an official comment on the "Notice of Proposed Withdrawal" that appeared in the Federal Register on July 21, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 138).

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
August 21, 2009

Background Information

Nearly five million people will visit the Grand Canyon this year, heeding the advice of President Theodore Roosevelt to enjoy one of "the great sights, which every American...should see." But while the Canyon itself may be timeless, its surroundings are not. There's a race afoot - within miles of the canyon's majestic rim - to snatch up mining rights on public lands to extract uranium, gold and other hardrock metals.

At the turn of this century, a steep rise in uranium prices prompted a rash of "claimstaking" just outside the park. According to an analysis of government data by the Environmental Working Group, the number of mining claims within 5 miles of the park increased from 10 in 2003 to more than 1,100 in 2008.

In approving an application to drill by British mining company Vane Minerals, federal officials argued that a "no action" alternative was not an option. Under a common interpretation of the 1872 Mining Law, federal land managers may require "mitigation" of impacts but cannot deny a mining permit - even when an icon like the Grand Canyon is at risk.