There will be no new uranium mines on more than one million acres of federal land surrounding the Grand Canyon for the next 20 years, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today.

Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar signs the Record of Decision withdrawing one million acres from mining consideration, January 9, 2012. [Navajo Nation Washington Office]

Secretary Salazar signed a Record of Decision on Monday during a ceremony held at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, DC, extending the current moratorium on new uranium mining claims.

The decision hands a victory to environmental groups and tribes who have fought for years to keep uranium mining out of the area.

The affected lands are situated in three areas, all in the vicinity of the Grand Canyon or Grand Canyon National Park, in Mohave and Coconino counties of northern Arizona. Approximately 3,200 mining claims are currently located in the withdrawal areas.

"A withdrawal is the right approach for this priceless American landscape," Salazar said. "People from all over the country and around the world come to visit the Grand Canyon. Numerous American Indian tribes regard this magnificent icon as a sacred place and millions of people in the Colorado River Basin depend on the river for drinking water, irrigation, industrial and environmental use."

The Public Land Order to withdraw these acres for 20 years from new mining claims and sites under the 1872 Mining Law, subject to valid existing rights, is authorized by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.

Companies seeking to exploit public resources for profits are among the losers in this withdrawal. Under the 1872 Mining Law, mining companies are not required to pay royalties to the public for the mineral resources that they extract, although taxpayers can be left to pay for environmental cleanups after the mines are closed.

Without the withdrawal, there could be 30 uranium mines in the area over the next 20 years, including the four that are currently approved, with as many as six operating at one time, the agency's Final Environmental Impact Statement estimates.

"We have been entrusted to care for and protect our precious environmental and cultural resources, and we have chosen a responsible path that makes sense for this and future generations," Salazar said.