Ban at U.S. Grand Canyon Pits Tourism Against Mining

My very first post on this blog I stated that our National Parks are only protected because we say they are so - today, but what about tomorrow? The next President can move to expand mining, and other development at the Grand Canyon and other National Parks. But only if we keep an eye on these issues can (America's Best Idea) we work to keep them protected. 

Across Arizona Tours.com
  
By Katarzyna Klimasinska and Amanda J. Crawford - Jan 11, 2012 3:04 PM MT 

 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-10/uranium-ban-at-u-s-grand-canyon-pits-tourism-against-mining.html

An Obama administration ban on new uranium mining near the Grand Canyon, the second most-visited U.S. national park, has touched off a debate over jobs from mining and tourism in a state that relies on both industries.

The ban “comes at the expense of hundreds of high-paying jobs and approximately $10 billion worth of activity for the Arizona economy,” Arizona Governor Janice K. Brewer, a Republican, said in a statement.
U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who signed the 20-year ban yesterday at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, said it was part of an effort to safeguard the $3.5 billion spent by visitors to the national park each year.

“Tourism, leisure are very much a part of job creation of the United States,” Salazar said. “The jobs associated to the Grand Canyon are not jobs that can be exported anywhere, those are truly American jobs.”

The ban will prevent new uranium and other hard-rock mining on about 1 million acres near the Grand Canyon National Park, which was visited by 4.5 million people in 2010, second to the Great Smoky Mountains. Previously approved mining and new projects on claims and sites with existing rights will be allowed, potentially leading to development of as many as 11 uranium mines, according to a statement from the Interior Department..