Frequently Asked Questions

At a glance: 

• Phonetic spelling: Baahj-Nuh-Waahv-Joh Ee-Tah-Kook-Venny
• The land area of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument comprises 917,618 acres managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Kaibab National Forest and the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, National Landscape Conservation System. 
• The Grand Canyon region is known around the world for containing some of the greatest natural wonders on the planet, supporting a remarkable diversity of wildlife and plants that flourish in its vast and well-connected ecosystem and being home to a rich, diverse, and thriving cultural heritage. 
• This landscape contains ancestral homelands of many Tribes including the Havasupai Tribe, Hopi Tribe, Hualapai Tribe, Kaibab Paiute Tribe, Las Vegas Band of Paiute Tribe, Moapa Band of Paiutes, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Navajo Nation, San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, Yavapai-Apache Nation, Pueblo of Zuni, and the Colorado River Indian Tribes.
• The region is described in many Indigenous languages as a center of civilizations and cultures. It is known as Baaj Nwaavjo, or “where Tribes roam” in the Havasupai language, for example, and I’tah Kukveni or “our ancestral footprints” in the Hopi language.
• The sweeping plateaus to the south, northeast, and northwest of Grand Canyon National Park constitute three distinct areas, each of which is an integral part of the broader Grand Canyon ecosystem. These three distinct areas comprise the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.
• The national monument’s natural resources are important to our Nation’s health and well-being, including clean drinking water that flows through its springs and streams into the Colorado River and into agricultural fields and the taps of millions of  homes across the Southwest.

What is a national monument?

A national monument is a designation given to a protected area of Federal land. National monuments encompass landscapes of unique historic and scientific interest. They range from rugged coastlines to vividly hued desert canyons to precious cultural and archeological sites. There are 115 national monuments managed by the Forest Service, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Land Management. The Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni— Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument is the 14th national monument under Forest Service management. The Forest Service currently manages cultural resources on National Forest System lands across the Nation, and caring for monuments falls well within the agency’s capabilities. This national monument designation prompts a new management plan to be developed with public input.

What authority does the President have to designate national monuments?

The Antiquities Act of 1906 grants the President authority to designate national monuments in order to protect “objects of historic or scientific interest.” While most national monuments are established by the President, Congress has also established national monuments to protect natural and historic features.

Why is this area being designated as a national monument?

Designating the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni— Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument will preserve its important historic, prehistoric, natural, scientific, and recreational values for the benefit of all Americans. This region is world renowned for natural wonders and has played a central role in America’s conservation history. In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt used the Antiquities Act to protect some of the deepest canyons along the Colorado River. The sweeping plateaus to the south, northeast, and northwest of Grand Canyon National Park constitute three distinct areas, each of which is an integral part of the broader Grand Canyon ecosystem. Today, President Biden’s designation ensures that these plateaus and canyons of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni— Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument will be protected, safeguarding vital natural resources including clean drinking water for millions of homes and agricultural fields throughout the Southwest.

The Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument designation will also protect well-documented, rich, and unique cultural and historic resources. The area’s plateaus and canyons are profoundly sacred to Indigenous Peoples and carry forward their stories, cultures, and ways of life. The monument designation also addresses the legacy of dispossession and exclusion of Indigenous Peoples associated with the establishment of Grand Canyon National Park. The new national monument is another step in addressing those injustices.

These important natural, cultural, and scientific objects identified in President Biden’s monument proclamation are not adequately protected by otherwise applicable law or administrative designations because neither provide Federal agencies with the specific mandate to ensure proper care and management of the monument’s natural and historic features, nor do they withdraw the lands from public land, mining, and mineral leasing laws.

Is there public support for a Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument?

The national monument designation builds on years of Tribal, local, and congressional efforts to provide recognition and protection for this area. A coalition of 12 regional Tribes with ancestral homelands in the monument requested President Biden use his authority under the Antiquities Act to protect these areas. Other supporters include Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs; local governments; dozens of regional and national stakeholders including wildlife, wilderness, outdoor recreation, hiking, and sporting organizations; and members of the public.

What information was considered in setting the boundaries of the monument?

Based on a thorough review of available information, the monument’s boundaries have been carefully drawn to meet the goals of effectively caring for and managing the significant scientific and historic objects identified in the proclamation in perpetuity. The monument’s boundaries will provide for the sound administration of the proposed monument.

Will a monument designation bring additional resources to the area?

The Grand Canyon region receives close to 5 million visitors each year. The adjacent Kaibab National Forest receives over a quarter million visitors. That number is expected to increase with the designation of a national monument. The national monument designation will allow for a more cohesive approach across Federal agencies—and with maximum input from Tribal, State, and local governments—to better protect the natural and cultural resources, as well as enhance visitor services. Given the increased public support and attention to the new monument, the Forest Service anticipates additional opportunities for public and private resources to help manage the area.

Will there be any fees required with visitation to the monument?

Monument designation does not prompt a fee.

What protections will national monument designation provide?

The monument proclamation directs the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Forest Service, and the Secretary of the Interior, through the Bureau of Land Management, to protect the important historic, prehistoric, natural, and recreational values of the area for the benefit of all Americans. It also withdraws the area from new mining claims and mineral leasing.

Who will manage the monument? Will there be a management plan?

The lands designated as the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument include National Forest System lands that will continue to be managed by the Kaibab National Forest (388,376 acres) and Bureau of Land Management lands that will be managed as a unit of the National Landscape Conservation System (529,242 acres). The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management will jointly prepare a management plan for the monument. Opportunities for maximum public involvement in the development of the management plan will be provided.

The proclamation identifies two commissions to advise the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management on development and implementation of the management plan. One commission will be a Federal Advisory Committee consisting of representatives of the Arizona Game and Fish Department; State and local governments; Tribal Nations; recreational users; conservation, wildlife, hunting, and fishing organizations; scientific, ranching, and business communities; and residents of the region. The other will be a Tribal commission to ensure Tribal expertise and Indigenous Knowledge guide the development and implementation of the monument management plan.

The plan will consider, to the maximum extent practicable, maintaining the undeveloped character of the lands within the monument; minimizing impacts from surface-disturbing activities; providing appropriate access for livestock grazing, recreation, hunting, fishing, wildlife management, and scientific research; and emphasizing the retention of natural quiet, dark night skies, and scenic attributes of the landscape.

How will Tribal Nations be affected?

This is a landscape profoundly sacred to Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples of the Southwest. To the maximum extent permitted by law and in consultation with Tribes, protection of Indigenous sacred sites and traditional cultural properties in the monument and access by members of Tribes for traditional cultural and customary uses will continue.

In recognition of the importance of these lands and objects to Tribal Nations, and to ensure that management of the monument reflects Tribal expertise and Indigenous Knowledge, a Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument Commission will be established to provide guidance on the monument management plan. The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management will also pursue opportunities for co-stewardship through management planning and implementation, including entering into cooperative agreements with Tribes that have cultural ties to the monument, and shall explore opportunities to provide support to Tribal Nations to participate in planning and management of the monument.

What types of recreational activities are currently allowed, and will they change within the national monument?

The monument provides exceptional outdoor recreational opportunities, including hiking, hunting, fishing, biking, horseback riding, backpacking, scenic driving, and wildlife viewing, all of which are important to the increasing travel- and tourism-based economy in the region.

The region provides world class hunting opportunities. Nothing in the designation shall be deemed to enlarge or diminish the jurisdiction of the State of Arizona with respect to fish and wildlife management, including hunting and fishing, within the monument. The Secretaries will collaborate with the State of Arizona on wildlife management within the monument, including through the development of new, or the continuation of existing, memoranda of understanding with the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are directed to develop a travel management plan that designates the roads and trails on which motorized and non-motorized mechanized vehicle use, including mountain biking, will be allowed. The transportation plan will include management decisions, including road closures and travel restrictions, necessary to protect the objects identified in this proclamation. Except for emergency or authorized or administrative purposes, appropriate wildlife management, and the retrieval of legally harvested elk and bison that are otherwise consistent with applicable law, motorized vehicle use in the monument may be permitted only on roads and trails documented as existing in Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service route inventories that exist as of the date of this proclamation.

How is research allowed within the national monument?

Research on Federal lands must adhere to a series of regulations including the Antiquities Act (1906), National Historic Preservation Act (1966, with subsequent amendments), Archaeological Resources Protection Act (1979), and Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (1990). Current management of these lands is consistent with these authorities and will continue as such under the monument management plan. This area has a long, successful history of research, some of which contributed to the national monument designation. The management plan will provide additional guidance.

Will existing mining or grazing permits be affected within the national monument?

Nothing in the designation shall be deemed to prohibit grazing pursuant to existing leases or permits within the monument, or the renewal or assignment of such leases or permits, which the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service shall continue to manage pursuant to their respective laws, regulations, and policies.

In 2012, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar withdrew many of these lands from the location of new mining claims for a 20-year period. The monument designation will withdraw from all forms of entry, location, selection, sale, or other disposition under the public land laws or laws applicable to the Forest Service, other than by exchange that furthers the protective purposes of the monument, from location, entry, and patent under the mining laws, and from disposition under all laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing. Valid existing rights will continue, including the Pinyon Plain Mine on the Tusayan Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest.

The Biden-Harris administration is committed to a sustainable domestic supply chain and has established an interagency working group to identify sites where critical minerals could be produced and processed in the United States while adhering to the highest environmental, labor, and sustainability standards.

Will the monument designation affect ecological restoration?

Ecological restoration, including vegetation management will continue pursuant to existing laws, regulations, and policies, consistent with the proper care and management of the national monument.

Will monument designation affect wildland fire response or fuels treatment of the area?

Management treatments, including prescribed fire, will continue to be used to address the risk of wildfire, insects, or diseases that could endanger natural and cultural resources or threaten public safety.

Are existing water resources, utility and transmission infrastructure, or railroad rights-of-way/corridors affected?

The monument area includes significant water resources, wildlife management structures, aircraft facilities, and telecommunications and utility infrastructure, as well as the Tusayan Ranger District administrative site. The establishment of this monument is subject to valid existing rights, including but not limited to maintenance of water or flood-control infrastructure, State highway and railroad corridors or rights-of-way, and existing utility and telecommunications rights-of-way or facilities. Existing infrastructure and facilities located within the monument may be expanded, and new facilities may be constructed within the monument, to the extent consistent with the proper care and management of the objects protected by the designation and subject to special use authorities and other applicable law.

Does this designation apply to private land?

The monument designation only applies to National Forest System and Bureau of Land Management lands and the Federal mineral estate. The proclamation states that if the Federal Government were to voluntarily acquire any additional lands or interests in lands within the monument boundaries, those would be included in the national monument.

Do the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have experience jointly managing national monuments?

The Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have shared management of several national monuments, including the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument in southern California, the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in northern California, and the Browns Canyon National Monument in Colorado.