Thank You Secretary Salazar: National Parks Group Praises Decision to Protect the Grand Canyon and Its Surrounding Lands from New Uranium Mining
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PRESS RELEASE
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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | |
| Date: | October 28, 2011 |
| Contact: | David Nimkin, Senior Director of the Southwest Regional Office, National Parks Conservation Association, dnimkin@npca.org, 801.521.0785 Jeff Billington, Senior Media Relations Manager, National Parks Conservation Association, jbillington@npca.org, (O) 202.419.3717, (C) 202.384.8894 |
Thank You Secretary Salazar: National Parks Group Praises Decision to Protect the Grand Canyon and Its Surrounding Lands from New Uranium Mining
Statement by David Nimkin, NPCA Southwest Regional Office Senior Director
“The decision by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to extend the ban on uranium claims on the land surrounding the Grand Canyon is the right move for preserving the integrity and incredible views of this site as well as protecting the health and quality of the Colorado River, which formed the canyon and serves as the life blood for local wildlife and 25 million people who live downstream. This action, which proposes to take one million acres off the table for future uranium mining claims, is warranted by the extensive analysis completed by the Department of Interior (DOI) during the past two years.
“We are fully supportive of this recommendation and will strongly defend this decision upon completion of the Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision. Although this has been a difficult and challenging process, the courageous leadership of Sec. Salazar and the DOI will protect one of America’s iconic landscapes and one of the region’s most important economic assets. This decision will also protect the health and wellbeing of Native American tribes who in the past have suffered from uranium mining activities and also the interests of downstream water users who have actively opposed increased mining in this area.
“For undeniable reasons, the Grand Canyon was set aside as a national park more than 90 years ago, in the words of the late President Teddy Roosevelt, ‘Let this great wonder of nature remain as it now is. Do nothing to mar its grandeur, sublimity and loveliness. You cannot improve on it. But what you can do is to keep it for your children, your children's children, and all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American should see.’”
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