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Transcript/ScriptBIDEN GRAND CANYON
HEADLINE: Biden Creates New National Monument Near Grand Canyon
TEASER: Tribes celebrate the protection of more than 4,000 square kilometers containing cultural sites and fragile ecosystems
PUBLISHED: Wednesday, 08/09/2023 at 00:01
BYLINE: Matt Dibble
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Oakland, CA
VIDEOGRAPHER:
VIDEO EDITOR: Matt Dibble
ASSIGNING EDITOR: Stearns
SCRIPT EDITORS: Stearns, Holly Franko
VIDEO SOURCE: AP, Storyblocks, Don Bills/USGS
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 1:44
VID APPROVED BY: pcd
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((INTRO: ))
[[U.S. President Joe Biden was in Arizona Tuesday to mark the creation of a new national monument near the Grand Canyon to protect more than 4,000 square kilometers of land sacred to Native Americans. Matt Dibble has the story.))
((NARRATOR))
President Joe Biden announced the creation of a new national monument in Arizona’s greater Grand Canyon region.
The designation protects more than 4,000 square kilometers from new mining operations and other industrial uses, while allowing citizens more access.
[[For radio: The president gave remarks at a historic airfield near the canyon.]]
((President Joe Biden))
“Today marks an historic step in preserving the majesty of this place. Among American landmarks. Sacred to tribal nations.”
((NARRATOR))
Local tribes and conservationists have long advocated for protecting the region around one of America’s most popular national parks, which contains fragile ecosystems and water sources, as well as cultural sites that had been off limits. Maya Tilousi-Lyttle is a youth leader in the Hopi and Havasupai tribes.
((Maya Tilousi-Lyttle, Native American Youth Leader))
“Standing here at Red Butte represents the unity of the tribes to protect our ancestral lands.”
((President Joe Biden))
“From time immemorial, more than a dozen tribal nations have lived, gathered, prayed on these lands, but some 100 years ago, they were forced out. That very act of preserving the Grand Canyon as a National Park was used to deny Indigenous people full access to their homelands.”
((Courtesy: Don Bills/USGS))
((NARRATOR))
Rep. Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican who serves on the House Natural Resources Committee, is among those who oppose the plan, writing that the designation “would permanently withdraw the richest and highest-grade uranium deposits in the United States from mining,” according to The Associated Press.
((NARRATOR))
This is the fifth national monument created by the president, a priority he linked to conservation and the climate crisis.
((Matt Dibble for VOA News, Oakland, California)
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Oakland, California
Embargo DateAugust 8, 2023 23:51 EDT
Byline
Matt Dibble for VOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
