Biden reportedly to create Grand Canyon national monument to block new mining

NEW YORK, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden is leaning toward designating a vast area near the Grand Canyon as a national monument to safeguard it from uranium mining, The Washington Post on Friday quoted anonymous sources as saying.

"Leaders of local tribes and environmentalists have spent years lobbying to protect areas near the park from potential uranium mining, which they say would threaten aquifers and water supplies," said the report. "They have asked Washington to double the protected area around the canyon by including 1.1 million acres of public lands in a Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument."

According to the report, Biden is doing a tour through Arizona next week. The White House previously announced that the president would make climate change and his environmental agenda a focus of his stops on the tour.

Federal officials have started telling tribal and environmental groups to be available for a potential Grand Canyon announcement early next week, which would fall during Biden's travel, said the report.

"No decisions have been made," White House spokesman Abdullah Hasan said in an email. "But I can tell you that President Biden has conserved more land and water in his first year than any president since JFK, and his climate protection record is unmatched."