In a move that will make many environmental groups happy the U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has imposed a 20 year long ban on any new uranium and other hard rock mining near the Grand Canyon National Park. The ban has been put in action to protect the Colorado River basin.
Salazar said that people from all over the country and around the world come to visit the Grand Canyon. He added that they had been entrusted to care for and protect their precious environmental and cultural resources.
Close to a million acres of land in northern Arizona will be protected by the mining ban. The ban will not apply to previously approved mining projects that may lead to the development of nearly 11 uranium mines in the next 20 years in the region.
Sen. John McCain, called the ban a devastating blow to job creation in northern Arizona. He added that the ban was fueled by an emotional public relations campaign pitting the public's love for the Grand Canyon against a modern form of low-impact mining that occurs many miles from the canyon walls.
Supporters of the ban say that the increase in jobs in the state due to mining activities was not worth the risk to the Colorado River and the lands that are considered scared by the American Indian tribes, including the wildlife habitat in the area.