Sierra Club, Arizona’s Grand Canyon Chapter
 The Sierra Club is one of the oldest and most influential grassroots environmental organizations in the United States. The Grand Canyon (Arizona) Chapter was formed in 1966 in order to focus attention on stopping dams in Grand Canyon. Our work to protect the Colorado River and Grand Canyon National Park continue today and have been joined by a number of programs to safeguard other areas and issues.
The Grand Canyon Chapter seeks to engage its members and the public in protecting our communities; public lands including national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges; rivers and streams; and wildlife; plus promote renewable energy and energy efficiency in order to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change; and support transit, bike and pedestrian friendly communities to reduce air pollution and energy use.
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Current News
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September 30, 2014, PHOENIX - Arizona’s Havasupai Tribe and a coalition of conservation groups are praising Judge David Campbell’s
decision today to
uphold the U.S. Department of the Interior’s 20-year ban on new uranium mining claims across one million acres of public lands adjacent to Grand Canyon.
The court ruled that the decision complied with federal environmental laws and that it was not too large, as plaintiffs had argued. At stake is protecting the aquifers and streams
that feed the Colorado River and Grand Canyon from toxic uranium mining waste and depletion.
Click here to read more (99 KB pdf).
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September 17, 2014, PHOENIX - Conservation and archaeological groups joined thousands of other Arizonans this week in submitting formal comments asking the
Forest Service to revise its proposed travel-management plan for off-road vehicles in the Tonto National Forest to protect wildlife, air quality, cultural resources and wilderness values.
Click here to read more (72 KB pdf).
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July 31, 2014, GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. — Conservation groups sent a
letter
this week urging federal regulators to suspend operations at a uranium mine near the Grand Canyon,
where millions of gallons of uranium-laced groundwater threaten people and wildlife. Records from the U.S. Geological Survey show that the contaminated groundwater — 80 times the limit set to
protect public health and the environment — have inundated the Pinenut uranium mine immediately north of Grand Canyon National Park.
Click here to read more. (46 KB pdf)
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June 18, 2014, PHOENIX - Today, Sierra Club delivered an open letter to Governor Jan Brewer asking her to demonstrate a strong commitment to
solar energy by ending the tax on leased rooftop solar systems.
Click here to read more. (46 KB pdf)
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June 10, 2014, PHOENIX - Today, prior to an Arizona House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee hearing on the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new carbon protections on power plants,
clean air and clean energy advocates gathered at the Arizona Statehouse to urge support for critical safeguards.
Click here to read more. (90 KB pdf)
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May 17, 2014, PHOENIX - Borderlands: Encounter in the Desert will be featured at the Olney Gallery at Trinity Cathedral during the month of June.
A First Friday artist reception the evening of June 6 will feature author and photographer Krista Schlyer, whose 2013 book, titled Continental Divide,
won several prestigious awards, including the National Outdoor Book Award. Krista will also be conducting a book talk on Saturday afternoon at Fair Trade Café.
Click here to read more. (355 KB pdf)
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May 6, 2014, PHOENIX - Local moms and public health advocates gathered on Tuesday to send a Mother’s Day message, urging Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Administrator Gina McCarthy to enforce the Clean Air Act at Navajo Generating Station (NGS), Arizona's largest and most polluting coal-fired power plant.
Click here to read more. (54 KB pdf)
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May 5, 2014, PHOENIX - Today, Sierra Club released its 2014 Environmental Report Card for the Arizona Legislature and Governor.
Despite starting off as one of the worst sessions for weakening environmental protections,
the 2014 legislative session ended up being a bit better than expected –
three terrible bills were vetoed, two were defeated in the Senate, and numerous bills died because they did not advance to a full vote
in one house or the other. Several bills were amended to at least address some of Sierra Club’s concerns.
Click here to read more. (140 KB pdf)
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April 25, 2014, PHOENIX - The Arizona Game and Fish Commission unanimously endorsed a plan this week that will make it vastly easier to kill endangered Mexican gray wolves
in Arizona and New Mexico and arbitrarily caps the number of wolves in both states at 300, and allowing for a number as low as 125. Significantly,
the commission also recommends that management of wolves be taken away from the federal government, where it has been since passage of the federal Endangered Species Act,
and given to the state, which has long been hostile to wolves.
Click here to read more. (58 KB pdf)
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Santa Catalina Bighorn Sheep Restoration Project – Sierra Club has significant concerns about the Santa Catalina Bighorn Sheep Restoration Project.
While we support restoration of native species to their natural habitat, we do question the efficacy of introducing animals to an area where they disappeared,
where it is unclear why the population died out, and where a majority of the habitat is poor to fair. Read more in our letter to
Arizona Game and Fish and in our letter to the
Forest Service.
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February 18, 2014, Phoenix – Today, more than 140 people from 24 legislative districts and
21 organizations participated in Environmental Day at the Arizona State Capitol. The day’s theme was Conserve Arizona – Water, Wildlife, & Wildlands.
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Click here to read more. (68 KB pdf)
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November 14, 2013, Phoenix – Today, outside an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) open house, a
coalition of Navajo clean energy supporters, health advocates, and conservationists delivered a message to the EPA asking for “No More Delays” in cleaning up one of
Arizona’s biggest polluters – the Navajo Generating Station (NGS).
Click here to read more. (68 KB pdf)
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November 6, 2013, GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK — For the second time in as many decades, operations
to open the Canyon uranium mine six miles south of Grand Canyon National Park have been suspended. The Havasupai Tribe,
which had previously challenged the mine, and conservation groups have been working to stop this mine because of potential
harm to waters and wildlife of Grand Canyon, as well as cultural resources.
Click here to read more. (80 KB pdf)
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August 22, 2013, Phoenix, AZ – Today, in response to a hearing that Representatives Gosar, Salmon, Schweikert and Franks are hosting on “E.P.A. Overreach,”
13 public health, faith, civil rights, and conservation organizations, as well as several businesses called on the congressmen to support cleaning up Arizona’s air.
The coalition pointed to the critical need to protect the health and welfare of Arizona residents as well as the need to protect national icons such as Grand Canyon National Park.
Click here to read more. (62 KB pdf)
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July 17, 2013, Phoenix, Ariz. – Court Overturns Decision to Give Trash Incinerator Renewable Energy Credits Says Arizona Corporation Commission Abused Discretion.
Today, the Arizona Superior Court overturned a decision by the Arizona Corporation Commission that would have given renewable energy credit to a trash incinerator
via a waiver or pilot project. The judge ruled that the Commission “erred and abused its discretion” in granting Mohave Electric Cooperative renewable energy credit
for a proposed waste incinerator near Surprise, Arizona.
Click here to read more. (146 KB pdf)
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July 2, 2013, Phoenix, Ariz. – The 51st Arizona Legislature adjourned on the 151st day of the Legislative session, but not before it had
passed legislation to put at risk health and safety; public lands, wildlife habitat, and cultural resources; and constitutional rights to initiative and referendum.
Click here to read more. (138 KB pdf)
Current News Archive
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Grand Canyon Echo
Fall 2014 Echo
(1.5 MB pdf)
Previous Issues and latest Beyond
the Slab cartoon!
Sign up for an e-Alert rather than receiving a paper copy.
Canyon Echo Goes Wiki
This online version includes all the articles and information found in the newsprint Canyon Echo that's mailed quarterly, but with a lot more.
Legislative Updates
Sierra Club 2014 Legislative Updates
Arizona Bill Tracker
Find out more about the bills we are tracking in the AZ Legislature.
Arizona Bill Tracker
2014 Environmental Report Card
2014Environmental Report Card, Arizona Legislature and Governor,
Issued May 5, 2014 (1.1 MB pdf)
From the ‘How-To’ Files:
Catch Some Rays!
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