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The ballroom of the DoubleTree in Flagstaff was bustling with more than 200 people Tuesday as local and tribal leaders, conservation groups, and northern Arizona residents made their voices heard on the proposal to create the new Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument.

Speakers had come from across the region -- from as far as Yuma and southern Utah -- to make their voices heard on the proposal that would designate 1.1 million acres of land around Grand Canyon National Park as a monument.

Although there have been several efforts to create a Grand Canyon national monument in the past, none have garnered the attention of the most recent tribal-led effort. In April, a coalition of tribes began pushing the Biden administration to create the new monument.

Throughout the meeting, tribal leaders spoke on the importance of how a new monument would protect lands that have a deep historical and cultural importance in relation to the the Grand Canyon.

On the other hand, many rural residents of the Arizona Strip and Mohave County saw the potential monument as an overstep on the part of the federal government.

Comments made at the meeting will be reviewed by leadership within the Departments of Agriculture and Interior, sources said.

Stuart Chavez, a Havasupai tribal councilmember, was among many who spoke to the panel of federal officials who had gathered.

The panel listening to comments included Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Laura Daniel-Davis and Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Homer Wilkes.

Chavez said he is hopeful that federal officials are listening to tribes and they might finally achieve protections to culturally important lands tribes have been asking for year after year.

"I really hope that they understand where we're coming from; our point of view as Indigenous people and place keepers, especially with this being our ancestral homes. We want them to respect that,� Chavez told the Arizona Daily Sun. “As I [told the panel], if we weren't forced out of our homes, we would still be there.�

For Havasupai Vice Chair Edmond Tilousi, eliminating what he and other tribal leaders see as the existential threat of uranium mining to the area, and ground water in particular, is a primary goal of the monument proposal.

“Indigenous people around this area, we thank the Creator for giving us that most important element that is water. So we have to preserve it. We cannot live without clean, pure water,� Tilousi said.

Tilousi said he hopes that in 100 years, Americans will be able to look back at the wisdom of people now in a monument designation preserving lands around the Grand Canyon for the benefit of all.

Overreach on the Arizona Strip?

The meeting comes after Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland visited the region in May to meet with tribal leaders, local elected officials, and community members to hear about their vision for the monument.

But not all in attendance were in support of the tribes� proposal. In particular, residents of Fredonia and Mohave County expressed opposition.

Colorado City Mayor Howard Ream was among those voicing opposition and concern. Ream said he believes the monument proposal represents almost an existential threat to small communities such as Colorado City, depriving them the opportunity to grow and further separating them from the rest of the state.

“Why do we have to designate a national monument in order to for [the area] to be managed adequately? It’s being managed adequately,� Ream said. “It really limits our ability to grow and be healthy community. It's such a massive impact to us.�

Mohave County Supervisor Travis Lingenfelter said he also feels that residents of Mohave County and the Arizona Strip have been thus far left out of the conversation.

“We are late to the game, not because we're not interested but because we weren’t invited when Secretary Haaland came out in May to visit with officials,� Lingenfelter said. “We still fully support Coconino County and the tribes if they want to do it in Coconino County, [creating] the 19th national monument in Arizona. But leave Mohave County out of it, and let’s just continue to work as we have worked, very cooperatively, at the state and federal level with the tribes.�

Lingenfelter said he hand-delivered a letter to the federal officials requesting another in-person meeting to be held in Colorado City.

Chavez and other leaders met with Haaland during that visit, and he said he thinks that visit and the meeting this week are good signs that the monument proposal could move forward.

“Being able to reiterate our message on a continuous basis, over and over again, I think that is at least creating some sort of a foundation [for success]. I have my fingers crossed at this point. I think they've done their due diligence, and we've done ours, and just very hopeful that things will actually progress,� Chavez said.

Among those who spoke in support of the monument proposal were several local leaders, including members of the Coconino County Board of Supervisors and Flagstaff Mayor Becky Daggett. Both groups have passed resolutions supporting the proposal.

Coconino County Supervisor Lena Fowler represents large areas of the county that overlap the Navajo Nation, as well as parts of Fredonia, which passed a resolution opposing the monument proposal.

But Fowler said she fully supports the monument.

“I support a monument because it takes in no private lands and the monument will protect [the area] from future mining claims. It protects the grazing rights of people that have their cattle out there, hunting will continue, and logging and other existing uses,� Fowler said.

The tribal coalition pushing for the monument includes leadership representatives of the Havasupai Tribe, Hopi Tribe, Hualapai Tribe, Kaibab Paiute Tribe, Las Vegas Band of Paiute Tribe, Moapa Band of Paiutes, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Navajo Nation, San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, Yavapai-Apache Nation, Pueblo of Zuni, and the Colorado River Indian Tribes.

The meeting comes as two bills have been introduced in congress creating the new monument, one in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Raul Grijalva and one in the U.S. Senate by Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.

Representatives from several members of Arizona’s congressional delegation were also at the meeting, with most simply listening.

Reps. Eli Crane and Paul Gosar spoke in opposition to the monument proposal. The statement from Gosar’s office called the tribal-led proposal an example of the Biden administration's “radical environmental justice agenda above all else.�

Tribal perspectives and uranium mining

Representatives and leaders from nearly every tribe within the coalition spoke throughout the meeting.

Richard Begay, speaking on behalf of Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren, was one of many to speak to the dangers posed by uranium mining as an important reason for the monument’s creation.

Tribes, and the Navajo Nation in particular, have a long and tragic history with uranium mining on tribal lands. More than 500 abandoned Cold War-era uranium mines still exist across the Navajo Nation, and continue to impact the health of residents.

Begay said their primary hope for the monument is that it prevents additional uranium mining from occurring around the Grand Canyon, and should the monument move forward, tribes should be fully involved in its creation and management.

“The monument should clearly designate that the affiliated tribes will work with the appropriate federal agencies to help guide the development of land use and management plans,� Begay told the panel. “Tribes have been the forefront of this effort to protect the Grand Canyon area from the beginning. And tribes will continue to remain involved no matter the decision of the federal government. This land has been our home for countless generations and it will remain so for generations to come.�

Hopi Chairman Timothy Nuvangyaoma told the federal panel that part of holding a listening session is truly listening to what is being said and requested by Indigenous communities.

“There's such importance behind this. For Hopi and many tribal nations, there’s an intimate connection that we have with this. For Hopi, it’s no different. It's our place of emergence, a place that we still hold pilgrimages and offerings in that area,� Nuvangyaoma said. “Throughout history, native lands have been poisoned. Mining, scarring, and those scars don’t heal. Those scars today have never healed. We have to bring some protections here.�

Uranium mining has long been controversial in northern Arizona. Currently, new mining claims around the Grand Canyon are paused after a 2012 moratorium was implemented by the Obama administration.

Despite the moratorium, several existing uranium mines still operate around the Grand Canyon, although most have not started mining operations in earnest.

Those existing mines, such as the Pinyon Plain uranium mine just south of the Canyon, would not be impacted by the monument designation, having rights and mining claims preexisting the monument.

Curtis Moore with Energy Fuels, which owns and operates the Pinyon Plain mine, said they see the monument effort as a rushed process that will hurt green energy in America long into the future.

“What I'm worried about is, really, as an American, that we are cutting off some of our best clean-energy assets forever, for no scientific reason,� Moore said. “Pinyon Plain can move forward and that will produce a lot of clean energy for a while, but it'll deplete eventually, like every mine does. And the other few [deposits] that we think are valid existing rights, those will eventually deplete. But what happens in 10 years, 15 years, 20 years? We need uranium.�

Energy Fuels has long asserted that the mining of uranium has evolved and become cleaner and safer since the Cold War, a claim that conservation groups and tribes dispute. Moore said they feel the monument proposal is almost entirely aimed at Energy Fuels.