More Republican Exploitation of the American People STOPPED - Salazar Protects Grand Canyon Watersheds From New Uranium Claims and Exploration

Bush/Cheney buoyed their economy with any exploitation available of the people of the USA. Three were no limits to the danger they were placing the American people in the path of, they didn't care. They wanted money, nothing else. An economy at any cost isn't necessary and certainly isn't the highest priority of the Obama Administration.

What isn't being counted in the media are the lives being changed and saved by the current Democratic Administration and Congress.


This remote and unspoiled, 294,000-acre monument is a geologic treasure, containing Paria Plateau, Vermilion Cliffs, Coyote Buttes and Paria Canyon. Elevations range from 3,100 to 6,500 feet.
Located on the Colorado Plateau in northern Arizona, Vermilion Cliffs National Monument includes the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness. The monument borders Kaibab National Forest to the west and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area to the east.


Aspen in the Kaibab National Forest



Order Temporarily Bans New Uranium Claims and Exploration Across 1 Million Acres of Public Land Surrounding Grand Canyon National Park (click title to entry - thank you)
GRAND CANYON, Ariz.— Conservationists are applauding a notice issued today by the Obama administration to temporarily place 1 million acres of public lands surrounding Grand Canyon off limits to new mining claims and exploration or development of existing, unpatented claims. The order complies with a June 2008 resolution by the House Committee on Natural Resources enacting the same protections across the same area. The protections do not affect three existing mines in the area slated for reopening or the exploration of existing patented claims.
Uranium prices have caused sharp increases in new uranium mining claims, exploration, and permitting to reopen old mines on public lands surrounding Grand Canyon National Park. Uranium development threatens to damage wildlife habitat, industrialize iconic wildlands, and contaminate surface water and groundwater feeding regional water wells, seeps, springs and the Colorado River — prompting concerns from former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the Navajo, Hopi, Havasupai, Hualapai, and Kaibab Paiute tribes, Coconino County officials, and independent geologists.
“Secretary Salazar’s decision secures a much-needed, but temporary respite from thousands of new uranium claims around the Grand Canyon,” said Grand Canyon Trust spokesman Roger Clark. “For permanent protection, Congress now needs to pass the Grand Canyon Watersheds Protection Act.”
Today’s order aligns the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management direction with the 25 June 2008 resolution by the House Committee on Natural Resources, which directed the secretary of the interior to enact an “emergency withdrawal,” banning new claims and exploration across the 1 million acres for three years. The Center for Biological Diversity, Grand Canyon Trust, and Sierra Club filed suit against the Department of the Interior and Bureau of Land Management in September 2008 for authorizing uranium exploration in violation of the withdrawal. The groups are evaluating how today’s action affects that pending litigation.
“We are pleased to see Secretary Salazar take this action to protect the lands around Grand Canyon and the Colorado River, which provides the drinking water for millions of people downstream,” said Sandy Bahr, chapter director for the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter. “Our waters and special places such as Grand Canyon deserve strong protections.”...