Opinion: Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen called the designation a ‘stunt,’ while he’s the one doing political backflips.
The Republican president of the Arizona Senate, Warren Petersen, has decided to remind the citizens of our great state that the Legislature does not have to be in session for lawmakers to find ways to waste taxpayers’ money.
And he is doing so proudly, publicly and with a flair (if that is the right word) for hubris and old-fashioned pomposity.
Sen. Petersen said that he (with your money, of course) is planning to sue the Biden administration over a recently designated national monument near the Grand Canyon.
He said, “This move has nothing to do with protecting the Grand Canyon. It has everything to do with fulfilling his (President Biden’s) tyrannic desires to block responsible mining and agriculture production in an effort cater to the extremists who elected him into office. I look forward to fighting on behalf of Arizona in court.”
Protecting water and sacred sites is bad?
The Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument protects water, wildlife and thousands of sites that are sacred Native Americans throughout the region. Places that should be sacred to all of us.
According to Petersen, however, “The monument designation is nothing more than a re-election stunt meant to pander to radical environmentalists who want to shut down uranium mining and make us energy-dependent on China.”
Let’s review.
First, the monument site, which is nearly a million acres, accounts for only about 1.3% of the nation’s uranium reserves.
Monument is supported by most Arizonans
So, no. It won’t shut down the industry.
Not only that, but Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland pointed out that existing rights won’t change, including existing mining claims.
Why a Grand Canyon monument: Means so much to our tribes
“The national monument only includes federal lands and does not include state and private lands within the boundary or affect the property rights of the state or private landowners,” she said.
In addition, a recent survey of Arizona residents indicated that 89% of Democrats, 73% of independents and 65% of Republicans support the designation.
Then there is Petersen’s sense of entitlement about the land and exactly to whom it belongs.
‘All we have left now as Native Americans’
Tribes in the region have been trying to get this land protected for generations. Most recently, they got help from Arizona U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who laid much of the groundwork for the national monument designation.
In a statement, Sinema called it the “product of hard work and relentless determination of thousands of Arizonans from diverse backgrounds and interests, including Arizona tribal communities, local leaders, conservationists, sportsmen, and many more … .”
The name of the monument is a mixture of the traditional Havasupai and Hopi languages. Baaj Nwaavjo means “where tribes roam” for the Havasupai Tribe, and I’tah Kukveni means “our footprints” for the Hopi Tribe.
So, while Petersen uses your money on a frivolous lawsuit, we might take a minute to ask what the monument means to a few of those whose ancestors were the first occupants of the area.
Carletta Tilousi, a former Havasupai Council member and the coordinator of the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition, said, “That’s all we have left now as Native Americans, our historical sites and sacred places. Everything else has been taken from us, our original homelands, our sacred places. The importance to protect the Grand Canyon for me personally is protecting the ancient burial sites of my ancestors.”
Thomas Siyuja Sr., chairman of the Havasupai Tribe, added, “Although there is still more work to do, we will sleep easier tonight knowing that our water, sacred sites, and plant medicines are more protected, and that our ancestors’ tears are finally tears of happiness.”
Reach Montini at [email protected].
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