Trump Kicks Off Massive Push to Exploit National Public Lands
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Interior Department is examining ways to allow fossil fuel and mining companies to ramp up exploitation of public lands by rolling back protections on at least six national monuments in four states, the Washington Post reported today. The rollbacks are likely to impact a newly protected area in Arizona near the Grand Canyon. Created in 2023 after years of advocacy from tribal nations and public lands advocates, Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni–Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument was established to safeguard land sacred to Indigenous tribes and protect the ecological integrity of the Grand Canyon region.
In response, Alan Zibel, research director with Public Citizen, issued the following statement:
“Billionaires and corporate interests are having their way with the Trump administration, and this radical attack on America’s national public lands is only the latest example. Trump would allow the plunder of these national treasures by private interests, including coal miners, uranium miners, copper miners, oil and gas producers and other extractive industries. Trump’s move would undermine key protections for public lands, and is a gift to the corporate interests who backed his campaign and a slap in the face to the tribes and local communities around the country who have fought over many decades to protect these lands.
“The Trump administration’s attack on the Grand Canyon area, which was protected under the Biden administration and is a sacred site to Native American tribes, could allow it to be exploited for additional uranium mining, threatening the groundwater of millions of Americans who depend on the Colorado River for drinking water. ”
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