In a vote of 20-2, with no Republicans showing up for the vote, an American treasure received emergency help today from the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources. Recognizing that extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, Subcommittee Chairman Raul Grijalva (Az.) showed his courageous leadership by calling for a pause on a mining boom in the area of one of our most valued national treasures.
Today, the Committee put the Bush administration in a timeout for rubber stamping an assault on the Grand Canyon. Now, American tourists won’t be forced to sit behind mining trucks as they go to visit one of our greatest American treasures.
Environment America has been working tirelessly to get Congress to protect the Canyon this year—helping to build a coalition of more than 160 groups, generating media in 13 states, and collecting thousands of postcards asking Congress to permanently protect the Grand Canyon and all of our national parks.
Due to a little known provision in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, in an emergency situation, the act of the Committee alone can compel the Secretary of the Interior to remove lands from mineral leasing. This temporary withdrawal permits the Committee to slow a snowballing corporate land grab that could permanently damage a treasure that belongs to all Americans.
Although this resolution provides a necessary temporary fix, ultimately the Grand Canyon and all national parks across the country need comprehensive mining reform of the 1872 Mining Law to protect these national treasures permanently.
