On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden prevented the development of one million acres of land located near Arizona’s Grand Canyon.
Using the Antiquities Act, Biden designated the area as the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, as long requested by the region’s local tribes, to whom the land is sacred.
However, Biden’s move was contested by some mining interests purportedly after the area’s uranium, which makes up 1% of the United States’ known uranium reserves.
This marks the fifth new national monument under Biden’s presidency.
