Appeals court says Legislature lacks standing in Grand Canyon national monument lawsuit

PHOENIX – The Arizona Republicans who sued to dismantle the Grand Canyon-area national monument created in 2023 by then-President Joe Biden don’t have legal standing in the case, a federal appeals court affirmed.

A Ninth Circuit panel ruling filed Wednesday upheld a previous decision by Judge Stephen M. McNamee of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

The Republican-led Arizona Legislature, state Treasurer Kimbery Yee, Mohave County, the town of Colorado City and the town of Fredonia filed the lawsuit in February 2024, six months after Biden established the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.

“Baaj Nwaavjo” means “where tribes roam” for the Havasupai people, while “I’tah Kukveni” translates to “our footprints” for the Hopi tribe.

Tribes in Arizona and conservationists had asked Biden to create the monument under the authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906. The action protected around 1 million acres surrounding Grand Canyon National Park from uranium mining.

Why did Arizona Republicans sue over national monument

The plaintiffs argued they had the right to sue on multiple grounds, including the loss of potential tax revenue from future mining operations.

The Ninth Circuit panel rejected the arguments as speculative.

Biden and members of his administration were named as defendants in the lawsuit. The state of Arizona joined the defense side as an intervenor.

“Today’s ruling is a victory for the people of Arizona and for the Indigenous communities whose ancestral homelands are protected by this monument,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement. “The court rejected every argument Senate President Warren Petersen, Speaker of the House Steve Montenegro and Treasurer Kimberly Yee put forward.”

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