Coalition Letter: Principles to Permanently Protect the Grand Canyon
If you have been lucky enough to travel to the Grand Canyon, you will likely always remember the unparalleled natural beauty, from the jagged red cliffs to the winding Colorado River. Visitors from around the world come to admire our national treasure that is now facing a growing threat. Mining companies know that it is against the law in most cases to set up operations in the Grand Canyon, or any national park for that matter. Yet, incredibly, the current mining law that has been around for 135 years does allow mining operations right next door to our national parks. In the past five years, mining companies have staked more than 1100 claims at the edge of the Grand Canyon, and with the price of gold increasing; the number of claims continues to grow.
Mining companies use a range of toxic chemicals to extract gold, silver, copper, and other minerals from the earth. In one mining process cyanide is poured over mounds of earth to extract low grade ore. This combined with other operations has led to fish kills, dead birds around mines, and fenced off areas of contamination. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated that hardrock mining is the number one source of toxic pollution in the United States and that it has contaminated 40 percent of western watersheds.
Given the rush to stake mining claims at the edge of the Grand Canyon and other national treasures, there must be a process to prevent the worst effects of toxic mining from permanently damaging these lands that belong to all Americans.
• The government must have the authority to stop any mine that would damage the natural resources of Grand Canyon National Park or other national parks.
• A set of sensitive lands around the Grand Canyon and in other important areas must be placed “off-limits” to future mining activities, like national forest roadless areas.
• Mining companies should pay a royalty for mining activities on public lands to provide a source of money to clean up the nearly 500,000 abandoned mines along the Colorado River and across the country.
• The practice of selling our public lands for pennies on the dollar to companies for mining or unrelated development must end. The public lands at the edge of the Grand Canyon and around the country should stay in public hands.
• Local governments, tribes, and citizens need the ability to designate certain areas unsuitable for mining, if they find it will negatively impact their communities. This will allow for other sensitive locations to be protected from toxic mining pollution.
• Where mining is deemed appropriate on our public lands, mining companies must have a comprehensive and thorough plan to return the land to its original state and to assure that water pollution will not need ongoing treatment. With the number of new claims surrounding the Grand Canyon, this would ensure that toxic mining does not pollute this American treasure for decades to come.
To save the Grand Canyon and other public treasures for future generations, we need to protect all national parks and sensitive lands from the toxic affects of hardrock mining.
National Groups
Earthworks
Environment America
Environmental Working Group
Sierra Club
Arizona
Environment Arizona
California
Environment California
Planning and Conservation League
Colorado
Audubon Society
B&H Sports
Base Mountain Quill Angler
Base Mountain Sports
Blue Quill Angler
Center for Native Ecosystems
Central Colorado Wilderness Coalition
Colorado Conservation Alliance
Colorado Environmental Coalition
Edge Ski, Paddle, & Pack
Environment Colorado
E-Town
Fine Print
Great Divide Ski, Bike, & Hike
Great Old Broads for Wilderness
Mo Henry’s Trout Shop
Mountain Angler
Mountain West Strategies
Oil & Gas Accountability Project
Pew Environment Group
Pete Kolbenschlag, Colorado Representative
Photography for Conservation
San Juan Citizens Alliance
San Luis Valley Ecosystem Project
Ski Base East
Thorne Ecological Institute
Wilderness Workshop
Florida
Breamfish Association
Broward Audubon
Environment Florida
Florida GLEE Green League of Broward
Florida Wildlife Federation
Gulf Coastkeepers
Loxahatchee River Coalition
Miami Sierra Club
St. John’s Riverkeeper
Indiana
Artists United Against Injustice
Citizens Action Coalition of IN Valley Watch, Inc.
Director of Admissions at Trinity School at Greenlawn
Head of School at Trinity School at Greenlawn
Hoosier Environmental Council
Indiana University
Professor Michelle Verges
Just Goods
Lifestyle Design
Michiana Community Currency
Save the Dunes Council
University of Notre Dame
Professor Jackie Smith
Maine
Alaska Wilderness League of Maine
Cool Kittery
ME PIRG Students
Sierra Club, Maine
USM Outing Club
York Energy Efficiency Committee
Maryland
Alliance for Sustainable Communities
Chesapeake Sustainable Business Alliance
Maryland PIRG
Patuxent Riverkeeper
Massachusetts
Berkshire Natural Resources Council
Charles River Recreation, Inc.
Clean Water Action Massachusetts
Friends of Mount Everett
Michigan
Clean Water Action, MI Division
Division Ecology Center National Environmental Trust
Eastern Michigan Environmental Action Council
Michigan Environmental Council
Michigan LCV
Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council
Minnesota
Alaska Wilderness League of Minnesota
Alliance for Sustainability
Clean Up River Environment
Mankato Area Environmentalists
Minnesota Ornithologists Union
Minnesota Waterfowls Association
MPIRG Minnesota Council of Trout Unlimited
Save Lake Superior Association
Southeastern Minnesotans for Environmental Protection
Montana
Clark Fork Coalition
The Great Old Broads for Wilderness
Pew Environment Group
Sierra Club – Montana Chapter
Anna Swanson, Montana Representative
Nevada
Great Basin Group of the Sierra Club
Great Basin Resource Watch
Green Dream Enterprises
Intentional Wellness Conference
Natural Resources & Environmental Science UNR
Professor Dr. Glenn Miller
Nevada Conservation League
Nevada Environmental Coalition
Nevada Nuclear Waster Task Force
Open Wisdom Institute
New Hampshire
Chuck Roast Mountainwear
Environment New Hampshire
NH Trout Unlimited
Solar Nation
St. Johns Stewardship of the Earth Cmte
Toxics Action Center Campaigns
UNH Organic Gardening Club
New Jersey
Edison Wetlands Association
Environment New Jersey
Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association
Hackensack RiverKeeper
New Jersey Audubon Society
New Jersey Environmental Federation
New Jersey Federation of Sportsmen’s' Clubs
New Jersey Highlands Coalition
Salem County Watershed Task Force
Sierra Club, New Jersey
New Mexico
Amigos Bravos (NM)
Animal Protection of New Mexico
Environment New Mexico
Gila Resources Information Project
New Mexico Environmental Law Center
New Mexico Wilderness Alliance
Pew Environment Group
Gregory Green, New Mexico Representative
REP America
North Carolina
Environment North Carolina
Wild South
Ohio
Cuyahoga County Rivers group
Environment Ohio
Izaak Walton League of America, Ohio Division
League of Ohio Sportsmen
Ohio Climbing and Repelling
Ohio Game Fishing
Ohio Parks and Recreation Association
OSU Environmentalists
Rails to Trails
Rivers Unlimited
Oregon
Environment Oregon
Friends of Forest Park
Friends of the Columbia Gorge
Hells Canyon Preservation Council
Kalmiopisis Audubon Society
Native Fish Society
Oregon Natural Desert Association
Pew Environment Group
Erin Anderson and Jamie Hogue, Oregon Representatives
Pennsylvania
Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper
Republicans for Environmental Protection
PennEnvironment
Rhode Island
Clean Water Action of Rhode Island
The Apeiron Institute for Environmental Living
Environment Rhode Island
Vermont
NWF Northeast Natural Resource Center
Virginia
Virginia Forest Watch
Washington
Adventure Trading
Avanti Racing Cycling Team
Ben Bridge Jewelers
Feathered Friends
Lands Council
Outdoor and More
Recycled Cycles
Wisconsin
Audubon Society