The Grand Canyon isn't in U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva's district, but it's in his state, his country and clearly has a special place in his heart.
So it was no surprise Thursday when Grijalva reintroduced legislation that would stop mining for uranium and other minerals on about 1 million acres around Grand Canyon National Park.
Tucson's congressman is determined to protect the Canyon and other public lands throughout the nation.
Bush administration officials had defied his efforts at virtually every turn, but public lands conservation likely faces a far brighter future under President Obama.
We wish Grijalva godspeed in winning enactment of the Grand Canyon Watersheds Protection Act of 2009.
The legislation would stop exploratory drilling for uranium near the South Rim - an activity the U.S. Forest Service allowed last year in Kaibab National Forest.
Mining exploration also is under way on the North Rim on acreage under Bureau of Land Management jurisdiction.
In neither case were environmental impacts studied before the drilling was allowed.
Furthermore, old uranium mine sites in northern Arizona, particularly on Navajo lands, have yet to be completely cleaned up, and serious health problems among tribal and other rural residents have been linked to those old uranium mines.
Last June, Grijalva invoked a rarely used House rule to issue an emergency declaration, ordering an immediate halt to uranium mining activity on more than 1 million acres around the Grand Canyon.
The Bush administration blithely ignored the order.
The declaration still is in effect, though. And we urge Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to implement that order once he has settled into his new position.
The emergency declaration could stop the mining immediately, albeit temporarily, for a three-year term.
The new legislation, by comparison, could take longer to enact. But it would impose permanent protections in the Grand Canyon's buffer zones.
Ultimately, however, the action desperately needed is a full overhaul of the antiquated Mining Law of 1872.
Under that law, claims may be staked and mined without any fees paid for the minerals extracted - or, for that matter, any cleanup conducted of the despoiled sites.
In this day and age, when our natural resources and energy reserves are of utmost importance, it is outrageous to allow such unregulated exploitation on public lands.
We hope the new Congress will reform the mining law as well. But first, stop the drilling near Grand Canyon - stop it now.
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