Editing Grand Canyon (section)

====Federal protection: National Monument and Park====
[[File:RAILWAY STATION AND EL TOVAR HOTEL, FACING WNW Grand Canyon Village. 1994, HAER.jpg|thumb|Railway Station and [[El Tovar Hotel]], Facing WNW, [[Grand Canyon Village]]. 1994 photo, [[HAER]] ]]
[[File:Grand Canyon National Park, Fred Harvey, The Towering Cliffs above Hermit Camp (NBY 20816).jpg|thumb|[[Fred Harvey Company|Fred Harvey]] postcard, The Towering Cliffs above [[Hermit Canyon|Hermit Camp]] ]]
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt visited the Grand Canyon in 1903. An avid outdoorsman and staunch conservationist, Roosevelt established the Grand Canyon Game Preserve on November 28, 1906. Livestock grazing was reduced, but predators such as mountain lions, eagles, and wolves were eradicated. Roosevelt along with other members of his conservation group, the [[Boone and Crockett Club]] helped form the [[National Parks Conservation Association|National Parks Association]], which in turn lobbied for the [[Antiquities Act]] of 1906 which gave Roosevelt the power to create national monuments. Once the act was passed, Roosevelt immediately added adjacent [[United States National Forest|national forest]] lands and redesignated the preserve a [[U.S. National Monument]] on January 11, 1908.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sheldon |first1=Charles |title=History of the Boone and Crockett Club |url=http://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=sheldon |website=University of Montana Mansfield Library |publisher=Boone and Crockett Club |access-date=February 24, 2017 |ref=Pgs 15–57 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225133129/http://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=sheldon |archive-date=February 25, 2017}}</ref> Opponents such as land and mining claim holders blocked efforts to reclassify the monument as a [[U.S. National Park]] for 11 years. Grand Canyon National Park was finally established as the 17th U.S. National Park by an Act of Congress signed into law by President [[Woodrow Wilson]] on February 26, 1919.<ref name=Tufts>{{cite book |title=Secrets in The Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks |edition=Third |first=Lorraine Salem |last=Tufts |location=North Palm Beach, Florida |publisher=National Photographic Collections |year=1998 |pages=12–13 |isbn=978-0962025532}}</ref>

The federal government administrators who manage park resources face many challenges. These include issues related to the recent reintroduction into the wild of the highly endangered [[California condor]], air tour overflight noise levels, water rights<ref name="Denetclaw">{{cite news |last1=Denetclaw |first1=Pauly |title=Colorado River, stolen by law |url=https://www.hcn.org/issues/54.3/indigenous-affairs-colorado-river-stolen-by-law |access-date=July 1, 2022 |work=High Country News |date=March 1, 2022 |archive-date=July 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701125918/https://www.hcn.org/issues/54.3/indigenous-affairs-colorado-river-stolen-by-law/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and management disputes, and forest fire management.

The canyon's ecosystem was permanently changed after the construction of the [[Glen Canyon Dam]] in 1963. Average flood levels dropped from 85,000 to 8,000 cubic ft/sec. In the absence of natural flooding, sandbars and beaches eroded and invasive species began to displace native species. Federal officials started releasing floods in the Grand Canyon in hopes of restoring its [[ecosystem]] beginning with 1996, 2004, and 2008.<ref name="Witze"/><ref>{{cite news |first=A.L. |last=Myers |title=Three-Day Grand Canyon Flood Aims to Restore Ecosystem |agency=Associated Press |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080306-AP-grand-canyo.html |date=March 6, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304080434/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080306-AP-grand-canyo.html |archive-date=March 4, 2016 }}</ref>
In 2018, the Department of Interior started experimenting with “adaptive management” of the Glen Canyon Dam, using a High-Flow Experiment (HFE) water release to shift volumes of sand and monitoring effects such as the dispersal of invasive [[tamarisk]] seeds.<ref>{{cite web |title=On-going experiment in high-volume CO River releases from Glen Canyon Dam set {{!}} Arizona Department of Water Resources |url=https://new.azwater.gov/news/articles/2018-01-11 |website=Arizona Department of Water Resources |access-date=June 24, 2022 |date=November 1, 2018 |archive-date=July 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702060749/https://new.azwater.gov/news/articles/2018-01-11 |url-status=live }}</ref>
However, as of 2022, extreme drought has caused water levels in Lake Powell to drop so much that a planned release of water has been delayed, to ensure that the Glen Canyon Dam can continue to generate [[hydropower]].<ref name="Hager">{{cite news |last1=Hager |first1=Alex |title=Lake Powell water level: Feds announce measures to help Glen Canyon Dam hydropower |url=https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2022/05/04/lake-powell-water-level-feds-announce-help-glen-canyon-dam-hydropower/ |access-date=June 23, 2022 |work=Cronkite News – Arizona PBS |date=May 4, 2022 |archive-date=June 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220606204102/https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2022/05/04/lake-powell-water-level-feds-announce-help-glen-canyon-dam-hydropower/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Between 2003 and 2011, 2,215 mining claims had been requested that are adjacent to the canyon, including claims for uranium mines.<ref name="Carus"/> Critics of uranium mining are concerned that uranium will leach into the aquifers feeding the Colorado River and contaminate the water supply for up to 18 million people.<ref name="Carus">{{cite news |title=Demand for uranium threatens Grand Canyon biodiversity |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/feb/17/uranium-demand-grand-canyon-biodiversity |newspaper=The Guardian |first=Felicity |last=Carus |date=February 17, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226013923/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/feb/17/uranium-demand-grand-canyon-biodiversity |archive-date=February 26, 2017}}</ref> In 2009, U.S. Interior Secretary [[Ken Salazar]] published a Notice of Intent to suspend approvals for new uranium mining in the area.<ref name="Zinke">{{cite web |title=United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit No. 14-17350 |url=https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2017/12/12/14-17350.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728102945/http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2017/12/12/14-17350.pdf |archive-date=July 28, 2018 |url-status=live |website=United States Courts for the Ninth Circuit |access-date=June 30, 2022}}</ref> In 2012, Salazar established a 20-year moratorium (known as the "Northern Arizona Withdrawal") withdrawing {{convert|1|e6acre|km2}} from the permitting process for uranium and hardrock mining, stating "People from all over the country and around the world come to visit the Grand Canyon. Numerous American Indian tribes regard this magnificent icon as a sacred place and millions of people in the Colorado River Basin depend on the river for drinking water, irrigation, industrial and environmental use."<ref name="Salazar">{{cite news |title=Secretary Salazar Announces Decision to Withdraw Public Lands near Grand Canyon from New Mining Claims |url=https://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Secretary-Salazar-Announces-Decision-to-Withdraw-Public-Lands-near-Grand-Canyon-from-New-Mining-Claims |access-date=June 30, 2022 |work=United States Department of the Interior |date=January 9, 2012 |language=en |archive-date=June 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630175654/https://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Secretary-Salazar-Announces-Decision-to-Withdraw-Public-Lands-near-Grand-Canyon-from-New-Mining-Claims |url-status=live }}</ref> However, Salazar's 20-year moratorium on new mines still allows mines with previous authorization to operate.<ref name="Salazar"/> [[File:Mather Point at Grand Canyon.jpg|left|thumb|View of Grand Canyon from Mather Point]]

Multiple challenges have been brought into court both against the moratorium and against the operation of uranium mines in the area.<ref name="Clark">{{cite news |last1=Clark |first1=Roger |title=Grand Canyon Uranium Decisions Loom Large in 2017 |url=https://www.grandcanyontrust.org/blog/grand-canyon-uranium-decisions-loom-large-2017 |access-date=June 30, 2022 |work=Grand Canyon Trust |date=January 6, 2017 |language=en |archive-date=July 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702085502/https://www.grandcanyontrust.org/blog/grand-canyon-uranium-decisions-loom-large-2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> The federal government's 2012 moratorium was upheld by the U.S. District Court for Arizona in 2014, but appealed in November 2014 as ''[[National Mining Association]] v. Jewell'' (No. 14-17350).<ref>{{cite news |author1=Curtis Spicer |title=Arizona continues to push for new uranium mines near Grand Canyon |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2015/09/24/arizona-uranium-mines-grand-canyon/72741520/ |access-date=January 7, 2016 |work=The Arizona Republic |agency=Cronkite News Service |date=September 24, 2015 |archive-date=May 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240530070251/https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2015/09/24/arizona-uranium-mines-grand-canyon/72741520/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals again upheld the moratorium in 2017, stating that the Secretary of the Interior held valid withdrawal authority.<ref name="Zinke"/>

''Havasupai Tribe v. Provencio'' was also argued at multiple court levels based on multiple grounds. The Havasupai people and the Grand Canyon Trust sought to block the reopening of the [[Pinyon Plain Mine]] (formerly Canyon Uranium Mine). Activity at the mine had ceased in 1992, ten years prior to the moratorium on new development in 2012. Appellants challenged the U.S. Forest Service's consultation process for approving reopening of the mine. As of February 22, 2022, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the arguments in No. 20-16401, concluding that the Forest Service had not acted arbitrarily in making its decision.<ref name="Crane">{{cite news |last1=Crane |first1=Steve |title=Uranium mine near Grand Canyon permitted by court, despite mining ban |url=https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2022/02/22/uranium-mine-near-grand-canyon-permitted-by-court-despite-mining-ban/ |access-date=June 30, 2022 |work=Cronkite News – Arizona PBS |date=February 23, 2022 |archive-date=July 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704034747/https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2022/02/22/uranium-mine-near-grand-canyon-permitted-by-court-despite-mining-ban/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Grzincic">{{cite news |last1=Grzincic |first1=Barbara |title=Court greenlights uranium mine in national forest |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/court-greenlights-uranium-mine-national-forest-2022-02-23/ |access-date=June 30, 2022 |work=Reuters |date=February 23, 2022 |language=en |archive-date=June 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630175655/https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/court-greenlights-uranium-mine-national-forest-2022-02-23/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

A study examining samples of groundwater from 180 spring sites and 26 wells in the Grand Canyon region has assessed the presence of uranium in groundwater from September 1, 1981, to October 7, 2020. The goal of the study was to establish a baseline assessment of groundwater conditions in the Grand Canyon region. At 95% of sites, maximum observed uranium concentrations were below the [[U.S. Environmental Protection Agency|EPA]]{{’}}s Maximum Contaminant Level for drinking water, 30&nbsp;μg/L. At 86% of sites, uranium concentrations were below the Canadian level for protection of freshwater aquatic life, 15&nbsp;μg/L.<ref name="Tillman">{{cite journal |last1=Tillman |first1=Fred D. |last2=Beisner |first2=Kimberly R. |last3=Anderson |first3=Jessica R. |last4=Unema |first4=Joel A. |title=An assessment of uranium in groundwater in the Grand Canyon region |journal=Scientific Reports |date=November 16, 2021 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=22157 |doi=10.1038/s41598-021-01621-8 |pmid=34785687 |pmc=8595346 |bibcode=2021NatSR..1122157T |language=en |issn=2045-2322}}</ref>

On August 8, 2023, it was announced that U.S. President Joe Biden will designate Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, a move aimed at conserving nearly 1 million acres of greater Grand Canyon landscape.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=August 8, 2023 |title=Biden designates new national monument surrounding the Grand Canyon, blocking mining {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/08/politics/joe-biden-national-monument-grand-canyon/index.html |access-date=August 10, 2023 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=August 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230809233955/https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/08/politics/joe-biden-national-monument-grand-canyon/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>