Banning Uranium Mining Near the Grand Canyon

In 2012, the U.S. Interior Secretary implemented a 20-year ban on new uranium mining claims across a million-acre area surrounding Grand Canyon National Park to protect the watershed, wildlife, and local communities, including the Havasupai Tribe. Earthjustice is intervening in consolidated lawsuits filed by the mining industry to overturn this ban. A U.S. District Judge in Arizona has already rejected industry claims that the Interior Department lacked the authority to ban claims on land parcels exceeding 5,000 acres.

• The U.S. government established a 20-year ban on new uranium mining claims across a million-acre area surrounding Grand Canyon National Park in 2012 to protect the region's wildlife, communities, and watershed.
• The mining industry challenged the ban through multiple lawsuits, which were consolidated into a single suit in 2012. A U.S. District Judge in Arizona denied the industry's argument that the Interior Department could not ban new claims on land parcels larger than 5,000 acres.
• Earthjustice is providing legal representation to defend the ban and is specifically working on behalf of the Havasupai Tribe to protect their ancestral communities within the Grand Canyon.

APA

Earthjustice (2012). Banning Uranium Mining Near the Grand Canyon. https://earthjustice.org/case/grand-canyon-uranium-mining

Chicago

Earthjustice. Banning Uranium Mining Near the Grand Canyon. 2012. https://earthjustice.org/case/grand-canyon-uranium-mining.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Earthjustice |title=Banning Uranium Mining Near the Grand Canyon |date=13 March 2012 |url=https://earthjustice.org/case/grand-canyon-uranium-mining |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{earthjustice2012banning, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{Banning Uranium Mining Near the Grand Canyon}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, year = {2012}, month = mar, url = {https://earthjustice.org/case/grand-canyon-uranium-mining}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }