Natural Resources & The Environment

 

Natural Resources & The Environment

Rep. Grijalva has taken the lead on numerous environmental issues in the House of Representatives. Among other efforts, he has championed the protection of the Grand Canyon from the threat of expanded uranium mining; codifying the National Landscape Conservation System as a permanent feature of our public lands; protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; defending wilderness areas and endangered species from pollution and encroachment; advancing ecological restoration on federal lands; increasing wildfire suppression funding; expanding young adult access to public lands; and advancing the National Park Service Centennial Initiative.

He served as Chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands – part of the House Committee on Natural Resources – in the 110th and 111th Congresses, and served as ranking member in the 112th Congress. He is currently ranking member of the newly renamed Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulations, which has much of the same jurisdiction.

Climate and Energy

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, global average temperatures have risen by 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 100 years. Without a proactive national strategy to reduce emissions from greenhouse gases and contain other man-made drivers of climate change, temperatures will continue to rise.

Some members of Congress deny the challenges presented by climate change and prefer to ignore the overwhelming scientific data available on the issue. Rep. Grijalva continues to believe in the need for comprehensive energy legislation that meets the nation’s energy needs, creates green jobs and decreases greenhouse gas emissions. He understands the importance of investing in clean energy and preventing the potentially catastrophic effects global warming could have on our farms, coasts, and oceans.

As a member of the Safe Climate Caucus, Rep. Grijalva is dedicated to making sure Congress takes climate change seriously. Grijalva is a member of a small group of lawmakers determined to talk about climate change on the floor of the House every day of the 113th Congress and has already done so twice this year.

Click here to view Rep. Grijalva’s latest speech on climate change.

Reform the 1872 Mining Law and Protect Southern Arizona from Open Pit Copper Mining

The General Mining Law of 1872 guides the management of all federal mineral resources. Its badly outdated provisions include a claim-patent system that grants private individuals and corporations free access to public land without fair taxpayer compensation for what is extracted. Rep. Grijalva knows we need to reform this outdated law to ensure that the American public is getting a fair deal for its public lands, and that mining activity does not undermine the environmental protections established through years of hard work.

Rep. Grijalva plans to introduce legislation in the 113th Congress that would create a 12.5 percent royalty rate – the same as that paid by the oil industry – on the extraction of hardrock minerals on federal land. This follows the findings of a Government Accountability Office report released in February at Rep. Grijalva’s request finding that there is little public information available about the value of hardrock minerals being extracted from public lands. You can read that report at http://1.usa.gov/UScbwM.

The Rosemont mine proposed in the Santa Rita Mountains southeast of Tucson has generated widespread local opposition and would damage local public health and environmental quality. The company constructing the mine has proposed dumping the mine tailings into the Coronado National Forest. Such a project would be devastating for the tourism industry and degrade the landscape for visitors and inhabitants. In March, Rep. Grijalva introduced H.R. 2944, the Southern Arizona Public Lands Protection Act of 2013, a bill that would withdraw federal lands in Pima and Santa Cruz Counties from new mining claims, including Rosemont. The bill is supported by the Pima County Board of Supervisors and the Tohono O'odham Nation.

Protect the Grand Canyon

Uranium mining in land adjacent to the Grand Canyon has the potential to impact the entire Colorado River watershed, which would have wide-ranging effects on the National Park, human health, environmental quality, and the livelihood of neighboring Native communities.

When he first introduced the Grand Canyon Watersheds Protection Act in 2008, Rep. Grijalva initiated ultimately successful efforts to withdraw approximately 1 million acres of federal lands surrounding Grand Canyon National Park from future mining claims. He’s proud to have been the impetus for former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s decision to declare a 20-year moratorium on new uranium mining claims in the 1 million acres described in the bill. Rep. Grijalva sent a letter to Salazar earlier this year urging him to adopt this policy.

Rep. Grijalva has filed the Grand Canyon Watersheds Protection Act again for this session of Congress to make sure the land is permanently protected. In order to preserve the integrity of international treasure and help protect the entire Colorado River watershed in perpetuity, the Grand Canyon Watershed Protection Act  has been updated to reflect the area withdrawn by Secretary Salazar.

National Landscape Conservation System

The National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS), made permanent by Congress in 2009, is a collection of 27 million acres of public land throughout the Western United States. Made up of National Monuments, National Conservation Areas and Wilderness Areas, the NLCS is the second largest collection of public lands set aside for conservation. 

Rep. Grijalva is the founding co-chair of the National Landscape Conservation System Caucus. He was the lead House sponsor of legislation signed by the president permanently to establish the National Landscape Conservation System and has advocated increasing the system's funding.

National Parks

Rep. Grijalva has long advocated full funding of the National Park Service and park operations and the expansion of the system since coming to Congress. He believes we need to address the chronic work backlog on federal land, which will create jobs both through the work itself and increasing the tourism potential at public spaces around the country.

Bringing National Park status to land around Southern Arizona is one of his highest priorities. To continue the protection of the unique Sonoran Desert ecosystem, Grijalva recently introduced the Saguaro National Park Boundary Expansion and Study Act to expand Southern Arizona’s flagship national park.

Rep. Grijalva is proud to have the support of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees and the National Parks Conservation Association. Earlier this year, he was awarded with the Western National Parks Association’s Edward B. Danson Award by actor Ted Danson at a Tucson ceremony. As James Cook, the executive director of the WNPA, wrote in an op-ed for the Arizona Daily Star, “Grijalva has demonstrated an understanding of the importance of our national park system. Park designation protects not only wonderful landscapes like our local Saguaro National Park and Chiricahua National Monument, but also places where the most important stories in American history are represented.”

Forests

Rep. Grijalva understands the value of a strong working relationship between the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture and other stakeholders to address the needs of our nation’s federal forests. He cosponsors H.R. 1442 – the Depleting Risk from Insect Infestation, Soil Erosion, and Catastrophic Fire Act – to extend contract stewardship and Good Neighbor Authority originally created by the Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2005.

Rep. Grijalva helped bring groups together to negotiate the creation of the Four Forest Restoration Initiative, which will restore 1.5 million acres of forest in Northern Arizona. As evidenced by the devastating fires across Arizona over the past several years, projects like are extremely important to our conservation and management efforts. He believes in better national policies to improve forest ecosystem health and minimize the damage caused by forest fires.

Wilderness

Wilderness status is the strongest protection afforded to any public land. These pristine natural environments are unique habitats for flora and fauna, refuges from the modern world that demonstrate our nation’s dedication to conservation and environmental stewardship. As Chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands in the 110th Congress, Rep. Grijalva helped promote 12 wilderness designation bills – totaling more than 2 million acres – into law.

Wildlife

Protecting wildlife from possible extinction and promoting animal rights are important aspects of Rep. Grijalva's work in Congress. He has helped ensure the proper management and respect of iconic wild horses the roam the plains of the West, and wrote a letter to then-Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar in February urging him to improve Bureau of Land Management horse management practices. He recently wrote to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell encouraging her not to remove Endangered Species Act protections for most U.S. wolf populations, as the Interior Department has considered.